The Beirut area remained quiet but tense this afternoon following intermittant artillery exchanges which Israel said were initiated by Palestinian and Syrian forces in west Beirut against Israeli forces south and east of the Lebanese capital. Israeli gunners returned the fire and claimed to have destroyed four Syrian tanks.
Meanwhile, thousands of Lebanese civilians were reported pouring out of west Beirut to seek shelter in areas of south Lebanon held by Israel. An Israeli military spokesman stressed that Israeli forces were observing the cease-fire around Beirut and shooting only when shot at.
Defense Minister Ariel Sharon told the Cabinet yesterday that the Palestinians in west Beirut were using the cease-fire to reorganize their defenses around that section of the capital and to maintain their political position abroad.
Although Premier Menachem Begin was telling audiences in the U.S. over the weekend that the Lebanon campaign was over, Sharon told Israel Radio that the army has not achieved all of its objectives because some of the Palestine Liberation Organization infrastructure and fighting capacity remained intact inside Beirut.
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