The army announced tonight that an Israeli raiding party ambushed Palestinian terrorists in Lebanon yesterday, scored hits on a number of vehicles and returned safely to their base. The communique, unusually sparse in details, indicated that the action took place on the coastal road north of the Litani River and was aimed at terrorist vehicles moving southward from Beirut.
According to a radio broadcast by Palestinians in Beirut, at least five Palestinians were killed, two at Saksakiyeh, near Sidon, and three of Soodiya, only 24 kilometers south of Beirut. Two others were reported wounded. According to Israeli sources, however, six terrorists were killed — three who were in a jeep and three who were patrolling the road.
Defense Minister Ezer Weizman and Chief of Staff Gen. Raphael Eitan said the raid was not connected with the terrorist attack in Hebron last Friday. They described it as part of a series of operations that the Israeli army initiated in the past and will initiate in the future. “The aim is to make war on the terrorists wherever they may be,” Eitan said. “They can expect actions of this kind of any time and at any place.” President Yitzhak Navon, speaking of a memorial service for the three victims of the Kibbutz Misgav Attack last month, said: “Jews can no longer be led like lambs to the slaughter.”
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