Israeli circles indicated today that a most serious view would be taken of any move by Syria to advance its troops in Lebanon southward to the Litani River after the pull-out of Israeli forces from south Lebanon is completed by June 13. There has been no official reaction to recent reports that the Syrians were planning such a move.
But the unofficial view expressed here is that a Syrian advance would pose a grave strategic danger to northern Israel considering the size and fire-power of Syrian forces in Lebanon. The circles said that the danger existed regardless of whether the Palestinian terrorists accept Syrian orders to refrain from activity in south Lebanon. They pointed out that Syrian artillery deployed on the northern banks of the Litani would constitute a long term menace not only to Israeli border settlements but to sensitive targets in the Zevulun Valley northeast of Haifa Bay.
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