Informed sources said today that Israel is about to warn the Lebanese Government through third parties that it will not tolerate the increased activities of guerrilla bands along Israel’s northern border. Israel holds the Beirut authorities responsible for the guerrilla forays which they permit, the sources said.
They noted that Premier Golda Meir, in her Knesset speech yesterday, referred to the Cairo agreement whereby the Lebanese Government ceded control of large parts of Lebanon’s southern region to the guerrillas. For a time it appeared that the Lebanese Army was restraining the commandos, but lately they have not interfered with them. Two settlers in the Israeli town of Metullah were killed in a guerrilla attack last Saturday. Lebanese Army units subsequently took positions on the southern slopes of Mount Hermon, not to restrain the guerrillas but apparently to fight off an expected retaliatory attack by Israel.
The sources said that Israel intends to make it clear to the Beirut authorities that they assume a grave responsibility when they permit the border situation to deteriorate.
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