Syrian Army halts battle after Lebanese Army unit is ambushed by Amal militia and Iranian Revolutionary Guards near Baalbek; National Guard of 40 armed men formed at Ain el...
Explosion demolishes IDF headquarters in Tyre which housed Border police, military police, civil assistance unit of IDF; IDF suspects car bomb, two groups claim credit for...
Lebanese Army moves into Chouf replacing Israelis; IDF, reluctant to leave, keeps two tanks, squad of soldiers in Kfar Matta; Norwegian UNIFIL units set up post in Haddad...
Israeli jets attack installations and refugee camps in Beirut's southern suburbs as well as airport; Khalde bombarded; Palestinian camps of Sabra and Burj al-Barajneh hit,...
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Military Action:
Syrian Army halts battle after Lebanese Army unit is ambushed by Amal militia and Iranian Revolutionary Guards near Baalbek; National Guard of 40 armed men formed at Ain el-Hilweh camp, led by Mossad-trained Palestinian Abdullah Nassar; fighting in Chouf maintains near Nabrah, IDF meets with rival leaders to restore 3 week-old cease-fire.
Casualties:
6 Lebanese Army soldiers killed, 12 wounded, 3 militiamen killed, 5 wounded in Bekaa Valley fight; villages in South Lebanon ordered by IDF and Haddad forces to pay thousands of Lebanese pounds for protection, and to obtain release of villagers held at Ansar detention camp; Lebanese Foreign Minister Salem says that 300,000 illegal aliens, mostly Palestinians, will eventually have to be removed from the country.
Political Responses:
Israel/ Occupied Territories: Bomb found and dismantled at entrance of al-Aqsa mosque, 16 detained for questions, Jewish extremist group suspected; Foreign Minister Shamir says Israel will not freeze settlements as a condition for King Hussein's joining peace talks; Foreign Ministry denies reports that Israel signed agreement to sell arms to Ciskei bantustan; Israeli Journalists Association instructs members to boycott February 24 press conference on treatment of Palestinian and Lebanese prisoners at Ansar camp, called by Israeli Committee Against the War in Lebanon; central Ramallah under curfew after stone-throwing incidents; 24-hour guard on deposed Nablus Mayor Bassam Shakaa lifted; 300 women representing Women's Work Committees on West Bank hold 2nd annual conference in Jerusalem; Village League and Civil Administration open private electricity generating system in Bil'in in violation of Jerusalem Electricity Company concession.
Palestinians/ Lebanese: Lebanese Foreign Minister Salem says if Lebanon errs in the area of normalization with Israel it could lose its existence, Lebanon will not close 22 frontiers to open one; special envoy Habib presents latest compromise proposals on Lebanese-Israeli negotiation to Foreign Minister Shamir, then leaves for US.
Arab Governments: Jordan announces it will not enter any peace negotiations without PLO approval.
US and Other Countries: Unnamed UK oil prospecting company to sign contract with Israel to carry out Mediterranean offshore exploration.
Military Action:
Explosion demolishes IDF headquarters in Tyre which housed Border police, military police, civil assistance unit of IDF; IDF suspects car bomb, two groups claim credit for explosion; IDF closes Israeli-Lebanese border, cordons off Tyre area, cuts coastal road to Sidon; renewed fighting in Chouf town of Aley.
Casualties:
Initial reports say 13 Israelis killed, 25 wounded in explosion in Tyre, 30 Palestinian and Lebanese detainees killed; 5 wounded in Aley.
Political Responses:
Israel/ Occupied Territories: Begin denounces explosion as "new outrage"; Sharon announces appointment of commission to investigate explosion; at Commission of Inquiry Israeli intelligence officer Moshe Hevroni says Sharon's top aide Dudai knew early Friday, September 17, of massacre of civilians through briefing of his assistant, Col. Reuven Gai; Gai, in separate testimony, says he conveyed Hevroni report to Dudai by 11 AM Friday; Begin arrives in US for 10-day visit, expects sharp disagreement with Reagan over settlements; Yehuda Ben Meir, deputy to Interior Minister Burg, urges safe-guarding of Camp David accords because they empower Israel to stay in the West Bank; Yitzhak Rabin urges 6-month freeze on settlements to induce Jordan to join autonomy talks; Sharon says IDF will only leave Lebanon if government signs agreement to normalize relations with Israel; 15 University instructors ordered to sign anti-PLO pledges or face expulsion from West Bank, Civil Administration orders 13 Birzeit faculty members to cease teaching and to leave in next two months for failure to sign pledge, including 8 Americans, 3 Britons, 1 French-man, 1 Swede; Israel reopens bridge across Jordan River to tourists for first time since November 1981.
Military Action:
Lebanese Army moves into Chouf replacing Israelis; IDF, reluctant to leave, keeps two tanks, squad of soldiers in Kfar Matta; Norwegian UNIFIL units set up post in Haddad militia's area of operation, prompting exchange of gunfire; IDF attacked by bazooka and light weapons east of Doha and at IDF roadblock near Sil, south of Beirut; Syrian radio reports IDF reinforcing armor units in Bekaa, a few miles south of Beirut-Damascus highway.
Casualties:
One IDF soldier wounded by bazooka fire east of Doha; 300 West Beirut residents spontaneously protest rumor of Lebanese Army withdrawal from their neighborhood.
Political Responses:
Israel/ Occupied Territories: Israeli Foreign Minister Shamir returns from 3-week visit to US; Israeli Ambassador Moshe Arens says US approved Israeli weapons, spare parts sales to Iran in attempt to make contacts in Iranian military that could be used to bring down Khomeini government; Israel reportedly agrees to provide arms and counter-insurgency training to Costa Rica; former Mossad head Meir Amit says net results of invasion are negative ("We've encouraged anti-Semitism,... highlighted the Palestinian problem instead of solving it" and by hitting PLO too hard, increased Arab solidarity); IDF mental health unit report indicates high mental illness rate among Israelis fighting in Lebanon (23 percent of total Israeli wounded are suffering psychiatric injuries, double "normal" wartime rate; 78 percent of 600 affected men are reservists).
Palestinians/ Lebanese: Gemayel returns home, calling trip a success (government announces US has agreed to equip 7,500 of 28,000-man Lebanese Army, France has pledged $86 million in military equipment); Salam, in interview, accuses Sharon of arming Phalange and Druze to promote sectarian tension in Lebanon.
Arab Governments: Arab League delegation headed by Moroccan King Hassan (with Foreign Ministers of Morocco, Syria, Algeria, Jordan, Tunisia and Saudi Arabia) meets with Reagan for 3 hours and later with State Department, stresses only PLO agreement will enable Jordan to play negotiating role for West Bank; US officials refuse to meet with PLO representative Khalid al-Hassan who is accompanying Arab League delegation.
US and Other Countries: Reagan urges Arab League delegation to begin direct negotiation with Israel to achieve Palestinian rights; Shultz tells delegation simultaneous Israeli-PLO recognition" moot as Israel totally rejects idea; Hassan's use of word "coexistence" seen by US officials as implying Arab recognition of Israel; Jewish medical team, back in Britain after visiting 4 refugee camps. in Lebanon, says Palestinians want to be more self-reliant but Israelis are preventing them from rebuilding homes, reorganizing health services.
UN: Britain blocks move to bar Israel from UN-sponsored International Telecommunications Union at Nairobi meeting; Arab states at UN agree to postpone efforts to expel Israel from General Assembly.
Military Action:
Israeli jets attack installations and refugee camps in Beirut's southern suburbs as well as airport; Khalde bombarded; Palestinian camps of Sabra and Burj al-Barajneh hit, as well as Datsun car depot, Pepsi bottling plant, farm equipment warehouse, tin can factory, water purification plant and Shia Muslim center of Ouzai; more leaflets dropped over Beirut as one of 'safe' escape routes listed on leaflet was being bombed; Israel seals off Beirut after blowing up bridge along the Beirut-Damascus highway; 19 Syrian batteries destroyed (of 4 new ones moved into Bekaa area, 2 destroyed, 2 damaged); 61 Syrian jets hit since June 6, as well as 5 helicopters); Israel says it captured hundreds of guerrillas; hundreds of Israeli tanks, jeeps, trucks flowing into Lebanon via Metulla (many with maps of the Bekaa valley); Israel and Syria declare cease-fire; 18 Syrian jets shot down. IDF invasion force now estimated at 60,000- 100,000.
PLO fighters leave camps, move to defend towns, 130,000 Palestinians reported in Beirut area; WAFA announces fighting in Sidon continues, as DFLP says Israel bombed Pales-tinian camps near northern port city of Tripoli; resistance to Israeli advance fierce on edges of Beirut.
Syrians involved in fierce fighting along Beirut-Damascus highway; fierce air battles with Israelis.
Casualties:
Selected journalists allowed to visit Tyre describe town as a "bombed out shell," with rubble littering streets; Tyre mayor says most buildings destroyed; PLO puts casualties at 8,000, mostly civilians; Palestinian Red Crescent puts Arab casualties at 10,000; Sidon reported nearly abandoned as Sidon residents line up for food, which some had lacked for 3-4 days; Israel orders UN forces in Lebanon to stop delivering food to Lebanese civilians caught in the fighting.
Maj. Gen. Y. Adam, slated to take over Mossad in the fall, killed in ambush; 68 killed, 424 wounded Israelis to date.
Political Responses:
Israel/ Occupied Territories: Unanimous support for invasion erodes as Jerusalem Post expresses concern about "newly expanded war" and Haaretz criticizes involvement in "dormant civil war in Lebanon"; Amb. Arens outlines possible plans, says Israel may withdraw within a few months if a new Lebanese regime is set up.
Palestinians/ Lebanese: Druze leader Jumblatt allows Lebanese Army to take over some Druze positions in Chouf area and in Beirut; Gemayel pushes for Army to fill vacuum; Haddad states plans to incorporate all areas taken by IDF into "Free Lebanon," bans Pal-estinians from his area; Haddad units involved in "mop-up" operations with Israelis.
US: Reagan sends letter to Israel asking for cease-fire; Haig rejects invitation to go to Jerusalem; US expresses concern over invasion after Saudi Foreign Minister meets Reagan in Bonn and messages from Brezhnev (Begin responds that Israel will observe cease-fire Fri-day but not withdraw until Israeli terms are met).
