Israel Air Force planes raided Palestinian terrorist bases in Lebanon today for the first time since April 21 and the Palestinians responded by firing shells at Israeli towns and kibbutzim near the Lebanese border, sending residents into bomb shelters.
A military spokesman said the targets of today’s air strikes were near Damour and the Zaharani River estuary near Sidon and included El Fatah operational bases, arms and munitions dumps, vehicles and two 100 mm. artillery pieces. He said the raids were ordered because of a number of serious breaches of the ceasefire which has been in effect since last July.
Rockets or artillery shells exploded near the seaside town of Nahariya during the day without causing casualties or damage. The shelling of Israeli border towns continued after dark. It was the first time since the cease fire that the Palestinians have fired across Israel’s border. A military spokesman said the she shellfire came from the Nabatiya area. There was no such response after the April 21 air raids.
Israeli army sources said that from last July 14, when the cease-fire took effect along the Lebanese border, until April 21 there had been a total of 130 terrorist attacks inside Israel, in the occupied territories and against Israeli installations abroad. These attacks killed 17 people and wounded 236, the sources said. Since the April 21 raid, there have been 23 attacks on Israel in which several soldiers and civilians were wounded.
LATEST CEASE-FIRE VIOLATIONS
The latest breaches of the cease-fire, according to the military spokesman, included a bomb explosion on a Jerusalem bus today which slightly injured an eight year-old girl who was hospitalized and sent a woman into shock. The victims’ names were not immediately released. Other recent violations were a bomb planted in an Ashkelon school, the injury of an Israeli soldier by a land mine in southern Lebanon a week ago and the planting of mines on the Golan Heights last Friday.
Those incidents triggered today’s air attacks over Lebanon. A military spokesman said the Israeli aircraft encountered only light anti-aircraft fire and returned safely to their bases at 6 p.m. local time when the raids ended.
UNIFIL TROOPS FIRE ON ISRAELIS
Army sources criticized the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) for opening fire on Israeli forces to prevent them from searching a region in south Lebanon for three Palestinian terrorists suspected of having planted mines on a Golan Heights read used by Israeli patrols. Senior officers said it was the first time in their memory that UNIFIL troops fired on Israelis. The Israeli soldiers did not return the fire.
The incident occurred early Friday morning after a patrol discovered land mines and followed tracks across the Lebanese border in search of the terrorists. The tracks led between two UNIFIL posts manned by Norwegian soldiers. The latter fired bazookas and small arms into the air, the Israeli sources said. When an Israeli helicopter approached, the Norwegians fired smoke grenades to warn it off.
The Israeli patrol was halted for about a half hour. Later it detained four Arab shepherds suspected of having aided the terrorists. They were released after interrogation and returned to Lebanon.
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