Israeli sources suggested today that Israeli forces might have to be used to police “Fatahland,” the southern portion of Lebanon on Israel’s border, because of Lebanese government “inactivity” against the terrorist groups in that section.
The sources said Israel may be forced to send in forces to police the area south of the Litani River, the northern edge of Fatahland, thus forcing the terrorists to concentrate north of the Litani River and bringing their bases much closer to Beirut, and perhaps force a confrontation with the Lebanese government.
The sources said Israel could not accept indefinitely the weakness of the Lebanese government and its resulting inactivity against terrorists in Fatahland. The sources reported that since the Six-Day War, 64 Israelis have been killed and 247 injured along the Lebanese-Israeli border.
Last night, Israeli units in the Golan Heights twice returned fire at the Syrian line after Syrian shells exploded in the Israeli-administered sector. The exchanges coincided with reports of a beefing up of Syrian positions stemming from what Israeli officials believed to be Syrian expectations of an Israeli reprisal action.
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