The Israeli army intervened to end fighting between Lebanese Christians and Druze villagers in the Shouf mountains of central Lebanon yesterday. At least 13 people were killed and over a score wounded before the Israelis imposed curfews on the Druze villages of Navrah and Brih, 18 miles southeast of Beirut.
About 15 people were killed last week and scores wounded in the same area where generations old blood feuds between Druze and Christians have flared anew. Both sides are heavily armed and many ordinarily peaceful people have taken to carrying weapons.
Israel army medical teams have been treating the wounded in the villages. Many civilians have been evacuated, including a woman whose legs were blown off by rocket-propelled grenades. The latest outbreak of violence was reportedly triggered when a Christian Phalangist fatally shot a Druze doctor who he said was carrying a membership card in Al Saiqa, the Syrian-backed branch of the Palestine Liberation Organization.
In the village of Aley, which has a mixed Druze-Christian population, Israeli forces were able to arrange an exchange of prisoners taken by both sides in recent fighting. While central and northern Lebanon are the scene of bitter interdenominational clashes, Beirut has been quiet. The U.S.-French-Italian Multinational Force is patrolling the capital.
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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.
