— Several Katyusha rocket shells exploded in Upper Galilee last night sending children in several towns into bornb shelters. But life returned to normal this morning. Residents of Metullah, Israel’s northernmost town, insisted that it had never been otherwise. They said they were “used to the noise” from the artillery exchanges between Maj. Saad Hoddod’s Christian forces in south Lebanon and Palestinian terrorists and other leftist elements.
Israel is more concerned with the heavy fighting between Syrians and Christian elements in northern Lebanon. The Christian village of Zahle has come under heavy bombardment as have the Christian quarters in Beirut with loss of lives reported from both places.
A Foreign Ministry spokesman said that while Israel would not intervene in Lebanon’s internal affairs, it might be forced to act if the fighting in the north spread south toward its borders and posed a direct threat to Israel’s security. On Friday, the Foreign Ministry condemned the Syrians’ apparent all-out attack on Christians in Lebanon.
Meanwhile, Christian villagers along Israel’s border have reportedly protested against a statement by Deputy Defense Minister Mordechai Zipori that stressed Israel’s commitment to the south Leban-
ese led by Hoddod but did not sufficiently, in their view, indicate Israel’s determination to aid the larger Christian communities in the north.
Israel carried out a series of pre-emptive raids against terrorist targets in south Lebanon last week. They were undertaken apparently to forestall expected terrorist raids on Israel planned for the Passover holidays and Independence Day.
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