Israeli Ambassador Yosef Tekoah said today that the crossing into southern Lebanon by Israeli soldiers yesterday morning was in response to terrorist attacks on Israeli villages. In a letter to Security Council president Liu Chieh of China. Tekoah said of the two-and-a-halt-hour battle within Lebanon that it was the result of “almost daily acts of hostility” from Lebanese soil, “acts of aggression (that) are continuing and have been intensified.” He said the Israelis crossed the border “in pursuit after the attackers.” Tekoah quoted the Lebanese newspaper Nide al-Watan as reporting that “3,000 armed terrorists entered Lebanon” in February. The envoy referred to Israel’s “scrupulous observance of the cease-fire on the condition of reciprocity.” A Lebanese military spokesman, in reporting the clash yesterday, said the Israelis had been forced “to retreat,” but he did not suggest a reason for their move into his country. He said the Israelis suffered “two casualties.” Lebanon has protested twice this month to the Security Council over five purported Israeli attacks on Lebanese villages; but she has not requested a special Council meeting.
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