Israel/ Occupied Territories: Heads of northern settlements meet in Kiryat Shemona, call on government not to abandon Haddad in negotiations over Lebanon withdrawal....
Israel/ Occupied Territories: Hundreds of former residents of Birim, Maronite village on Israel's northern border evacuated in 1948, call on government to allow them to...
IDF patrol confronts Lebanese Army at checkpoint east of Beirut; French and Italian soldiers take up positions in East Beirut alongside Lebanese Army; Foreign Minister...
Arafat checks front lines of PLO in Beirut, visits refugee camps, offices; PLO delegation arrives in Tunisia to prepare for PLO guerrilla arrivals; IDF position in Bekaa...
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Political Responses:
Israel/ Occupied Territories: Heads of northern settlements meet in Kiryat Shemona, call on government not to abandon Haddad in negotiations over Lebanon withdrawal.
Palestinians/ Lebanese: PLO Executive Committee meetings end, leave door open for further PLO-Jordanian talks, Arafat travels to Morocco to meet with King Hassan; President Gemayel says he will not sign any agreement allowing Israeli forces to remain in Lebanon.
Arab Governments: Jordan promises military hardware and training to Lebanese Army.
US and Other Countries: Reagan announces Secretary of State Shultz will travel to Middle East to conclude an agreement on withdrawal of foreign forces from Lebanon; Reagan says PLO has 50 pilots helping Nicaragua and Salvadoran Left; Secretary Shultz says Reagan told King Hussein if he said he was ready to enter negotiations, Reagan would not press him to do so until the US could find some form of settlement freeze; British Foreign Minister meets PLO political department head Farouk Kaddoumi in Tunis, first contact at this level between Britain and PLO.
Political Responses:
Israel/ Occupied Territories: Hundreds of former residents of Birim, Maronite village on Israel's northern border evacuated in 1948, call on government to allow them to return now that security prevails, government reportedly will not agree to setting precedent since estimated 50,000 Arabs in Israel might also demand return to their original homes; another outbreak of mass sickness on West Bank causes hospitalization of 164 girls from Tulkarm and Anabta, 240 in Yatta; results of International Red Cross investigation of illnesses, released by Israeli Health Ministry, indicate no evidence of poison or toxic material, conclude that epidemic is mass phenomenon devoid of danger; curfew imposed in Yatta, 6 other areas; 2 IDF soldiers, border policeman, and 2 Nablus residents wounded by hand-grenade in Nablus; Israeli bank ransacked during protest demonstrations in Tulkarm; Israeli targets stoned in other West Bank towns; 18 year-old boy shot in arm and stomach by settler driving past al-Arub refugee camp, police question settler and impound his rifle; 2 Israelis injured by stones in Qalqilya; 2 Arab youths injured when Israeli driver swerves his car into group throwing stones; 65 year-old Jerusalem woman hospitalized after being beaten and stabbed, members of Jewish religious school seeking to take over her property are suspected; IDF investigating 2 settler-related shooting incidents in Hebron and Nablus areas; Muslim religious leaders call students to hold protest gathering at Dome of Rock against last year's Easter attack by Israeli soldier; police use teargas to disperse demonstration near Damascus Gate, 8 arrested; police prevent group of 50 Jewish religious nationalists, including Meir Kahane, from entering Temple Mount, group then holds prayers outside gates; teenage nephew of Kahane arrested after firing Uzi at Palestinian demonstrators.
Palestinians/ Lebanese: Arafat and Hussein hold third round of talks, Arafat tells news conference he is still committed to Fez summit resolutions, Farouk Kaddoumi says Reagan plan is not a vehicle for negotiation, Abujihad says PLO is not giving a mandate to anyone.
Arab Governments: Mubarak, in Peking, urges PLO and King Hussein to enter talks on Reagan plan soon, before next US election campaign.
US and Other Countries: US diplomats in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem reportedly sceptical of official Israeli explanation of mass illnesses, point to fact that Israelis on West Bank displayed same symptoms.
Military Action:
IDF patrol attacked with bazooka fire east of Beirut.
Casualties:
1 IDF soldier killed, 2 injured, bringing total IDF casualties since PLO evacuation to 126 killed, 212 wounded; special envoy of Austrian Chancellor Kreisky meets PLO officials in Damascus to discuss Israeli-PLO prisoner exchange.
Political Responses:
Israel/ Occupied Territories: Ibna' al-Balad (Sons of the Village) activist in Umm al-Fahm placed under 6-month house arrest for fifth time in last 3 years; 250 Druze (about 2%) in Golan Heights have accepted Israeli citizenship; youths in West Bank village of Burka throw stones at police superintendent's car; car of Israeli police chief in Nablus badly damaged by stones; Health Ministry finds no traces of poison at schools, suggests possibility of psychosomatic illness with symptoms of mass hysteria; IDF helicopters fly medical teams to jenin after renewed outbreak of symptoms of illness, hospitalization overnight of further 70-80 cases; AI-Fajr Jenin correspondent arrested.
Palestinians/ Lebanese: Arafat travels to Baghdad, meets with Iraqi foreign minister, other officials; Habib returns to Beirut, meets Gemayel.
Arab Governments: Jordanian foreign minister meets with Farouk Kaddoumi in Amman; Jordan confirms that US has promised it will act to obtain freeze on Israeli settlements and will accept expelled West Bank mayors in joint Jordanian-Palestinian negotiating team if Hussein declares his intention to join peace talks; Saudi foreign minister returns for second meeting with King Hussein.
Military Action:
IDF patrol confronts Lebanese Army at checkpoint east of Beirut; French and Italian soldiers take up positions in East Beirut alongside Lebanese Army; Foreign Minister Salem says army under orders to. shoot anyone who tries to obstruct its operations in Beirut, announces army will be increased to 40,000 men from present 22,000 by summer; car bomb explodes in Antelias, Phalange controlled suburb of Beirut; Haddad forces move in Hasbaya region of Bekaa valley; IDF reports explosive device defused near roadside in Sidon.
Casualties:
2 killed, 1 injured by car bomb in Antelias; 2 IDF killed, 2 injured in ambush while on patrol near Ayn Zhalta, southeast of Beirut.
Political Responses:
Israel/ Occupied Territories: Begin government defeats no confidence motions brought by Labor, Communist and Shinui parties, in single vote, 64 to 56; 1,466 signatures collected on petition denouncing war in Lebanon by Yesh Gvul ("There's a Limit") organization; High Court issues temporary injunction to prevent eviction of 2,000 residents of refugee settlement near Rafah; fire bomb thrown at Israeli bus near village of Arabe in Jenin district, village placed under curfew.
Palestinians/ Lebanese: At PNC, PLO Political Department head Farouk Kaddoumi calls Reagan plan another Camp David; Jibril says PFLP-GC will quit PLO and PNC if Fez resolution is endorsed; PNC Chairman Khaled al-Fahoum tells press conference we do not want to destroy any state in the region, says Palestinian state will be established in West Bank and Gaza, with Jerusalem as its capital; in Lebanon negotiations Israel seeks five "twarning stations" manned by 150 soldiers each at Mount Baruk, Hasbaya, Nabatiyeh, Sidon, and south of Sidon; Phalangist militia leader Fadi Frem says that Israel is installing Haddad's forces as second option if negotiations fail; Lebanese Foreign Minister denies Israeli report that agreement reached on accepting Haddad into Lebanese army.
US and Other Countries: Reagan says he is willing to increase number of Marines in Lebanon if it were key to speeding foreign troop withdrawal; Reagan invites Defense Minister Arens to White House meeting prior to his departure for Israel.
Military Action:
Arafat checks front lines of PLO in Beirut, visits refugee camps, offices; PLO delegation arrives in Tunisia to prepare for PLO guerrilla arrivals; IDF position in Bekaa fortified; 177 wounded PLO fighters leave by ship for Greece; Syrian forces begin withdrawal from Beirut; 697 PLO guerrillas leave for North Yemen; second group of PLO guerrillas evacuated to Tartus; Italian troops and French reinforcements joined US Marines in overseeing evacuation.
Casualties:
1 IDF soldier dies of wounds from attack north of Tyre; 1 IDF solider killed by Phalangists when he and two other soldiers tried to break into jewelry shop in Aley; UNRWA says tents needed to house 30,000 Palestinian refugees through winter (Lebanese government reportedly opposes more permanent housing, relocation further northward); thousands of Lebanese jam crossings into West Beirut as services slowly restored.
Political Responses:
Israel/ Occupied Territories: Sharon warns Syria, calls on Lebanese cabinet to cooperate with US (later at New York meeting with Jewish groups, he defends invasion as step toward Middle East peace; 100 demonstrators protest outside); Sharon meets Shultz, says Israel opposed to Palestinian state as it already exists in Jordan; Deputy Minister of Communications Dov Shilansky, in radio debate, says Israeli media encouraged the enemy during the war; IDF lifts 10-day ban on travel from Nablus area to Jordan; Begin says inquiry commission should probe opposition, not war; Jerusalem Post poll finds Likud Party surges in popularity.
Palestinians/ Lebanese: Farouk Kaddoumi to lead PLO delegation to Arab Foreign Ministers meeting tomorrow; Habib meets Gemayel, asks Salaam to cooperate with Gemayel, assures Wazzan, Sarkis no Phalangists will be near overland evacuation.
Arab Govemments: Assad writes Reagan; Egypt sets three conditions for resuming autonomy talks in meeting with Israeli Ambassador (total IDF withdrawal from Lebanon; freeze on all further settlements in the occupied territories).
US and Other Countries: US Jewish leaders tell Shultz not to "rehabilitate" PLO.
