IDF reportedly spent lS215 m. in past 4 months building new roads linking military installations to Lebanese roads in South Lebanon; US Sixth Fleet soldiers on shore leave...
Israeli troops seize Beaufort Castle, Nabatiyeh, Hasbaya; fighting continues in Tyre and nearby Palestinian refugee camps; air battle over Beirut suburbs between Israeli...
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Military Action:
IDF reportedly spent lS215 m. in past 4 months building new roads linking military installations to Lebanese roads in South Lebanon; US Sixth Fleet soldiers on shore leave in Haifa for first time since June.
Casualties:
Israel reportedly seeking alternative homes for 640 non-Arab detainees it wants to free from Ansar, but whose home countries refuse to admit them.
Political Responses:
Israel/ Occupied Territories: Begin, in first public appearance since his wife's death, meets Haig in Tel Aviv; Sharon confers in Israel with US General Starry, urges US to provide arms, IDF training for Lebanese Army; Economics Minister Meridor tells Knesset committee South Lebanon, refugee camps will be back to preinvasion conditions in one month, says UNRWA will give each displaced refugee family $450; Tehiya MK protests resettlement of refugees so near border; Haaretz publishes poll showing Likud support down to 30 percent from 41.5 percent before Beirut massacre, but Labor Party support rises only marginally; Jaffa Arabs protest new housing plan and relocation; Sulha (peace-making meeting) held between Nablus Chamber of Commerce and Elon Moreh settlers; Colonel Yigal Karmon meets with heads of three West Bank universities to clarify wording of new work permit for foreign lecturers (several West Bank lecturers dismiss change as "cosmetic"; Israeli official indicates those deported may return to teaching after signing new work permits); Karmon directive to pressure "extremist mayors" and neutralize pro-Jordanian West Bank Palestinians published in greater detail (dated October 29, it contains notes from October 24 conference and is signed by Ravi Avisar).
Palestinians/ Lebanese: West Bank Mayors Mohammed Milhem and Fahd Qawasme meet with Shultz in Washington, reportedly float two proposals for negotiations-one would have joint Jordanian-Palestinian delegation with Palestinians not directly identified with PLO but authorized by them to negotiate, other would have same forces within broader Arab delegation; Lebanese foreign ministry asserts Iranian revolutionary guards involved in yesterday's attack on Baalbek city hall, as Foreign Minister Elie Salem meets Iranian ambassador to protest.
Arab Governments: Syria criticizes US role as Habib arrives for talks on troop withdrawals from Lebanon; Egyptian Foreign Minister Hassan Ali and Israeli Ambassador Sasson meet on bilateral issues, including Taba; on eve of Mitterrand's visit Mubarak says France and Egypt will give Reagan plan precedence over their own initiatives; reports that Egypt extradited 5 Palestinian students to Israel in early November after alleging their involvement in Sadat's assassination.
US and Other Countries: US official says Shultz needs more information on new work permit requirements to ensure that his concerns have been resolved; over 400 academics from 20 colleges and universities nation-wide sign petition to Congress to suspend military and economic aid to Israel; French President Mitterrand, in interview, says Palestinians should have their own state; EEC sends Danish envoy to Israel to seek halt to settlements.
UN: Arab governments fail to unseat Israel at special UNESCO session in Paris.
Military Action:
Israeli troops seize Beaufort Castle, Nabatiyeh, Hasbaya; fighting continues in Tyre and nearby Palestinian refugee camps; air battle over Beirut suburbs between Israeli and Syrian jets; Israeli troops converge on Sidon from 3 directions after airdropping leaflets to residents asking them to leave their homes within 2 hours; three waves of Israeli planes bomb and strafe southern Beirut; Begin and Ariel Sharon tour Beaufort Castle; Tyre is finally captured, in house-to-house combat, though pockets of resistance remain; UN re-ports 57 Israeli sorties flown over Lebanon; Israeli armored column pushes to within 12 miles of Beirut; assault on Jiye power plant cuts electricity to Beirut.
Two Syrian jets shot down over northern Israel, .2 in northern Lebanon; Israeli jets bomb and strafe Syrian positions at jezzine, east of Sidon (at least 5 Syrian soldiers killed); fierce battles fought with Israeli jets over Beirut; Syrian peacekeeping units in Beirut move equipment and ammunition to positions guarding highways to Bekaa valley.
PLO units resist in heavy fighting in Tyre and Sidon and at Saadiyat, 12 miles south of Beirut; Palestinian News Agency (WAFA) says 45,000 Israeli troops involved apd 400 killed since the invasion began; claim 45 Israeli tanks and 45 armored cars knocked out; personal security headquarters for Arafat reported hit; PLO accuses UNIFIL of "collaboration" with Israel in failing to counter invasion; Lebanese National Move-ment militias take positions near seafront to guard against Israeli invasion of Beirut.
Casualties:
Apartment buildings and structures at Arab University hit, hospitals report at least 60 wounded; refugees stream into Beirut; electricity cut off to Beirut; Israelis estimate Palestinian casualties at 2500; radio reports say hundreds of bodies litter streets of Sidon; fierce firefight on edge of Sidon reported, as fires rage on hillsides. Israel reports 25 killed, 7 missing, 1 captured, 96 wounded; PLO estimates Israeli casualties at 400.
Political Responses:
Israel/Occupied Territories: Begin turns over Beaufort Castle to Major Haddad, meets with Habib, rejects US call for restraint; Army Chief of Staff Rafael Eitan says taking of Beaufort Castle pushes guerrillas out of range of all Galilee settlements except near Golan Heights; blackout on news of troop movements maintained; Foreign Minister Shamir says Israeli aims go beyond pushing the PLO away from the border to "the PLO's final destruction as a terrorist and political factor"; Israel reportedly pressuring Haddad and the Phalange to join in attacks on the PLO (Bashir Gemayel resists); Peres and Rabin (Labor Party) meet with Begin over remarks of Sharon, and Peres calls for speedy end to the conflict; Mapam demands a halt to Israeli air attacks and a return to the cease-fire; Knesset meets to consider no-confidence motion introduced by Democratic Front for Peace & Equality; 60 left-wing students demonstrate near prime minister's of-fice; 150 march to Mt. Scopus campus. Israeli military police tighten border patrols to prevent goods looted from Lebanese homes coming into Israel.
Palestinians/Lebanese: PLO accuses UNIFIL of "collaboration" with Israelis; Bashir Gemayel resists Israeli pressure to attack PLO; WAFA reports Israeli troops number 60,000.
Arab Governments: High-level Iranian delegation, including heads of Iranian army and revolutionary guards, visits Syria.
US: Pentagon sends 5 US warships to the eastern Mediterranean in case the 4,000 Americans in Lebanon need to be evacuated.
UN: UN resolution calls for unconditional and immediate Israeli withdrawal and an end to all military activity within Lebanon and across its border with Israel (Israel's Ambas-sador says Israel will not comply); ABC reports UNIFIL officer received orders from UN headquarters not to resist Israeli forces.
