The Israeli air force, using attack helicopters, on Wednesday raided bases of the al-Fatah wing of the Palestine Liberation Organization cast of the southern Lebanese port city of Sidon. The foray came in response to renewed Katyusha rocket attacks by the PLO.
PLO sources in Lebanon admitted that the building that served as local headquarters had been hit and that three of its members had been seriously wounded.
Also reported hit were bases belonging to the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine, a Marxist group led by Nayef Hawatmeh.
The Israeli attack was carried out some 15 miles from the area where the official Lebanese army moved south from Beirut toward Tyre and Sidon and took up positions Wednesday morning.
The PLO rockets fell in the eastern sector of the southern Lebanon security zone without causing casualties, short of their intended target in northern Israel. The barrage of Katyushas, which began Jan. 29, constitutes what PLO sources in Lebanon have referred to as a “second front” in the Persian Gulf war.
Tuesday night’s attack followed a massive bombing assault Monday night by Israeli fighter bombers in which seven to 12 people were killed and 17 Fatah members injured. Some 14 PLO bases east of Sidon were reported destroyed in that attack.
The Palestinians were reported still digging through the rubble Wednesday in search of additional casualties.
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
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.
