More than 30 Lebanese, mostly youths and children, were in Israeli hospitals today for treatment of injuries suffered in the continuing fighting between Moslems and Christians in southern Lebanon. The injured were brought to Israel through the opening in the border fence.
A Christian militiaman who participated in the battle for the village of Hiam, now in the hands of Palestinian terrorists, reportedly told Israelis that the terrorists killed or wounded any Lebanese suspected of having received medical aid or any other assistance from Israel. There was a lull in the fighting today except for artillery exchanges between Christians holding out in Marjayoun and Palestinians in Hiam.
Reports from Lebanon today quoted terrorist sources as saying that they had stopped fighting under orders from PLO chief Yasir Arafat who visited the region yesterday. Arafat was apparently acting under pressure from Syria which wants the Moslems and Christians to stop the shooting lest it escalate to a point where Israel might intervene.
The Cabinet was briefed on the situation in southern Lebanon yesterday by Defense Minister Shimon Peres. Foreign Minister Yigal Allon and Chief of staff Gen. Mordechai Gur. Meanwhile, Likud MK Uriel lin demanded that the government intervene immediately in Lebanon on behalf of the Christians. The same demand was made by Mayor Avraham Aloni of the border town of Kiryat Shemona. He also urged the government to strengthen Israel’s border defenses in the north.
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.
