Israel’s Chief of Staff, Gen. Mordechai Gur, reported tonight that Israeli forces are in complete control of south Lebanon, up to the banks of the Litani River and including the former terrorist stronghold known as Fatahland. Shooting has virtually ended but terrorist artillery and Katyusha rockets located at Nabatiyeh north of the Litani continued to shell Israeli settlements in Upper Galilee. Israel Air Force planes and artillery are engaging those sources of fire, Gur said.
He said that Israeli forces control all three bridges spanning the Litani River. The bridges are not occupied by Israeli troops but are in close range of artillery and tank guns which prevents their use by terrorists to bring in supplies from the north or escape in that direction. The westernmost bridge, the Kasmiyeh Bridge, was kept open to refugees heading for the south Lebanese port of Tyre. Tyre and a salient around it remains in terrorist hands but is encircled by Israeli forces and under the guns of Israeli naval units standing off shore, Gur said.
He said Israeli forces stopped short of Tyre because it is a heavily populated town and they did not want to cause further destruction. Other sources noted that an attempt to capture Tyre would require bitter hand-to-hand fighting.
ESTIMATED 400 TERRORISTS KILLED
Gur had high praise for Israeli forces from the headquarters level to officers in the field. He hailed the performance of Israeli soldiers under fire. He said 18 soldiers were killed in action and three more died in a road accident. He said 250 terrorist dead have been counted but estimated that 400 were killed.
Gur disclosed that a terrorist commander, Carlos Jihad, was killed by Israeli forces. “He found death in an ambush,” Gur said, but gave no details. He said 20 terrorists were taken prisoner and brought to Israel. He said that wounded terrorists were treated at Israeli hospitals and Israel was providing medical help to Lebanese villagers.
Defense Minister Ezer Weizman told a press conference that he and Gen. Ensio Siilasvuo, commander of United Nations forces in the Middle East, discussed the return of villagers who escaped from the fighting and said Israel would agree to assist them. “We shall do everything possible to prevent south Lebanon from becoming once again a base for terrorists,” Weizman said. “We have a moral obligation to our neighbors in the north, the Christians. The future of the good fence will have to be part of the agreement. We hope the good fence becomes a beginning of a good border.”
Meanwhile, Israeli border settlements have returned to their normal routine. Schools were re-opened today and formers returned to their fields. The army’s chief chaplain, Rabbi Gad Navon, has ordered army chaplains to collect the bodies of dead terrorists for burial. They are being assisted by local Moslem and Christian clergymen and by army sappers who search the corpses for booby traps. In several instances, live grenades were concealed on the bodies of dead terrorists.
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.
