Defense Minister Moshe Arens accused Syria today of doing its utmost to topple the government of Lebanese President Amin Gemayel. He also rejected demands for the unilateral withdrawal of Israeli forces from Lebanon.
Appearing before the Knesset’s Foreign Affairs and Security Committee, Arens confirmed however that the redeployment of Israeli troops in Lebanon is under consideration. He said this would not be the same as unilateral withdrawal, proposed by the Labor Alignment. A precondition for any redeployment would be guarantees that the areas evacuated by Israel will not be occupied by Syrian or Palestine Liberation Organization forces, Arens said.
Foreign Minister Yitzhak Shamir told Voice of Israel Radio today that Israel would have no choice but to redeploy in Lebanon if the Syrians persist in their refusal to pull their own troops out of the country. Israeli officials believe however that American diplomatic efforts may still succeed in convincing Syria to withdraw. American sources here said there have been no formal consultations on a possible Israeli redeployment although Shamir’s remarks were considered “the strongest signal yet” that a redeployment is imminent.
Labor Party chairman Shimon Peres told the Knesset committee today that an Israeli pullback to the Awali river line, north of Sidon was necessary without delay. Arens responded that the situation in Lebanon was not as “black” as Peres painted it.
ISRAELI TROOPS IN MOUNTAINS
Meanwhile, Israeli troops moved into the Shouf mountains east of Beirut today to try to end renewed fighting between Druze villagers and Christian Phalangists. Beirut radio reported heavy artillery exchanges between the two sides this morning. But the fighting appeared to subside by midday, except for occasional sniper activity.
Beirut radio also reported that three Syrian soldiers were killed today by anti-Syrian elements in the Tripoli area north of Beirut. Israel has suffered no casualties in Lebanon in recent days and attempted attacks on Israeli troops have slackened considerably. This has been attributed to the recent fighting between PLO dissidents and supporters of PLO chief Yasir Arafat.
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