Israel Air Force jets raided terrorist bases in south Lebanon today and returned safely to their bases. The pilots reported direct hits, a military spokesman said.
He identified the targets as a two-story building, housing units of the anti-Arafat El Fatah group headed by Abu Moussa, and two single-story structures serving Ahmed Jibril’s Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command. The three buildings were on the outskirts of the El Hilwe refugee camp near the coastal town of Sidon.
A Beirut radio report said at least five Palestinians were killed and six wounded. The report said the attack lasted seven minutes and was carried out by four Israeli planes firing air-to-ground rockets.
Today’s attack was the first by the Israel Air Force this year on targets in Lebanon and the first in south Lebanon since 1982. The targets were far from the Bekaa Valley in eastern Lebanon which is protected by Syrian SAM-2 surface-to-air missiles.
Elsewhere in Lebanon today, troops of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) defused automatic firing devices on four 107 mm. Katyusha rockets aimed at Israel. UNIFIL has reportedly dismantled nine Katyusha rockets in the past week. A large roadside bomb was detonated safely near a UNIFIL post outside the Shiite Moslem village of Kafra in south Lebanon today.
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.
