Israel declared here that the Lebanese government was being imperiled by the same terrorist “murder squads” for which “pressure is being brought to bear” on the current United Nations General Assembly “to accord some Rind of standing” in the Assembly. In a letter Friday to Secretary General Kurt Waldheim, Israeli Ambassador Yosef Tekoah cited a statement on Sept. 11 by Kazem Khalil, the Lebanese Justice Minister, that “it is not just that the Palestinians should conquer a small country like ours and turn us into a scapegoat.”
Tekoah prefaced his statement with a review of new efforts by the terrorist groups to infiltrate Israel from their bases in southern Lebanon to carry out missions of sabotage, kidnap and murder. Tekoah declared that “even Jamal Jumblatt, a well-known Lebanese politician and strong supporter of the terrorist organizations, found it necessary to declare, as reported in the Beirut daily. Al Hayat on Sept. 17, that ‘I regret that some of the fedayeen in the south are not implementing the clear orders and instructions of several months ago to withdraw from the villages.'”
TERRORIST ACTIONS CITED
Tekoah cited the discovery on the eve of Yom Kippur of two breaches of the border at which footprints of terrorists leading from Lebanon into Israel and back to Lebanon were found. He reported that the terror squad left at one of the breaches weapons, ammunition and leaflets, in Arabic and Hebrew, demanding the release of 10 persons in Israel for terrorist activities.
He said one of the names was that of Arch-bishop Hillarion Capucci, now on trial in Israel on charges of involvement in supplying weapons to terrorists. He said the leaflets were signed in the name of El Fatah. On Sept. 8, he reported, the Zarit area was shelled from Lebanese territory and on Sept. 11, an Israeli patrol north of Zarit was attacked by automatic rifle fire from across the Lebanese border. “These criminal at tacks,” Tekoah declared, “demonstrate time and again that the Palestinian murder organizations Lebanon maintain what is in fact a regime of there own completely unfettered in its odious operation.
He said Israel was defending and would continue to defend the lives of its citizens “by taking appropriate measures against the murder organizations.” He added that the Lebanese government “which permits the terror activities to continue on and from Lebanese territory, must bear sole responsibility for the consequences of this situation.”
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
