Zionist terrorism, War Crimes And Crimes Against Humanity - Part 6

Zionist terrorism, War Crimes And Crimes Against Humanity In Palestine And Neighboring Arab Countries 1967-1988

Encyclopedia of the Palestine Problem, Chapter Seventeen, Part 6 of 6

17 OCTOBER 1983
On 17 October 1983 the Israeli authorities arrested Mr. Mohammed Mi'ari and Mr. Maysara Sayyid, both of Haifa, on the grounds that they were in breach of security law because they had attended the International Conference on the Question of Palestine at Geneva in August and September and had, during that Conference, met with representatives of the Palestine Liberation Organization in working sessions of the Conference.

Mr. Mi'ari and Mr. Sayyid were attending the Conference at the invitation of the United Nations and were representing their organizations, namely, the Friends of the Prisoners Association and the Abna Al-Balad Movement (Movement of the Sons of the Country), respectively, both nongovernmental organizations based in Israel.

4 JANUARY 1984
On Wednesday, 4 January 1984, at 8 a.m., a squadron of 16 Israeli warplanes flew over the Baalbek region in eastern Lebanon and attacked, in two formations, the Lebanese gendarmerie barracks at the southern entrance of the ancient city of Baalbek and the Immam Mousa Sadr City on the main road between the villages of Taibe and Talia. Six minutes later, the Israeli fighter bombers resumed their raid on the same positions, which resulted in the destruction of the gendarmerie barracks, the "Kastal" school in the "Wafel Camp", the camp mosque and dozens of houses on the outskirts of the camps. Heavy damages were also inflicted on a sheep market, which was crowded at that hour, and on the Hotel l'Alouette, a restaurant and a gas station.

As a result of that attack, more than 100 persons were killed and 400 wounded. It has also been determined that 150 schoolchildren were among the victims in the destroyed school.

27 JANUARY 1984
The Acting Chairman of the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People sent a letter to the UN Secretry General informing him of the recent attempt to desecrate, if not indeed totally destroy, the holiest Moslem shrine in Jerusalem, the Dome of the Rock and Al-Aqsa Mosque, considered the third most sacred place in Islam, after Mecca and Medina.

It has been borne out by police reports that the attempted destruction occurred on Friday, 27 January 1984, but was fortunately averted by Arab guards. Before dawn, shortly before thousands of Moslems were to gather for prayer, two men carrying explosives escalated the eastern wall of the Old City of Jerusalem. According to the accounts of both the police and Moslem leaders, a Moslem guard, being aware of the intrusion, appealed for help. As policemen arrived, the two intruders fled, leaving behind 22 pounds of explosives and 18 hand grenades purportedly issued by the Israeli army.

In the view of the Mufti of Jerusalem, Sheik Saad-el-Din el-Alami, there were more than two assailants. The Mufti said that there were many bags of explosives at the foot of the wall that forms the Temple Mount. It is of interest that the Commander of Israel Southern East District, Yehoshua Caspi, was quoted by Israeli radio as saying that the presence of explosives and grenades pointed to Jews as the perpetrators. Initially, the police refused to confirm Moslem leaders' assertions about the scope of the assault.

Over recent months, many such instances have been reported of grenades and explosives placed at entrances to churches and mosques, their pins having been removed and their handles held down by rocks so that if the latter were disturbed an explosion would inevitably occur. To date, it is known that a Greek Orthodox nun, an Imam and a Moslem worshipper have been wounded.

Although these attacks have been followed by anonymous telephone calls to news organizations claiming responsibility by a group called "Terror against Terror", the police have declared they do not know whether or not such a group exists.

2 FEBRUARY 1984
On Thursday, 2 February, the Israeli occupation authorities closed down the old campus of Bir Zeit University for three months, as of result of which 1,400 Palestinian students are being deprived of schooling, The Office of Administration and Services (maintenance and kitchen) and the Department of Student and Employee Affairs, and the Office of Public Relations have all been closed down.

4 MARCH 1984
Israeli occupation forces ambushed a civilian bus carrying Palestinian workers from the village of Mazrah Sharqiain the Israeli-occupied Palestinian West Bank. The ambush, which took place Sunday, 4 March 1984, resulted in the wounding of seven Palestinians. One remains in grave condition in the Hadassah hospital, and another is reported to be in serious condition in the Ramallah hospital.

After the ambush, Israeli occupation forces sealed off the area and forcibly prevented relatives of the victims from approaching the hospital where they had been taken for medical treatment.

29 JUNE 1984
On 29 June 1984, Israeli warships seized a passenger boat bound from Cyprus to Lebanon and forced it to head for the port of Haifa. On the arrival in Haifa of the seized ship, its passengers were disembarked and the Israeli authorities proceeded to interrogate them. Nine of the passengers were detained and the boat returned the remainder to Beirut.

14 OCTOBER 1984
Letter from the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs of Iraq Addressed to the Secretary-General of the United Nations.

I wish to inform you of the blatant aggression committed by the Israel authorities against the Iraq commercial steamer Babel. That steamer was passing through Jordanian territorial waters on 14 October 1984 en route to the Jordanian port of Aqaba when an Israeli patrol intercepted it and asked it to identify its cargo. When the captain of the steamer refused to comply with that request because it was in clear contravention of the rules of international navigation, the patrol opened fire on the steamer.

This action constitutes a flagrant violation of the rules of international law governing navigation in territorial waters, since it is inadmissible to interfere with a commercial vessel passing innocently through territorial waters, especially where those waters are subject to the sovereignty of a foreign state.

28 OCTOBER 1984
On Sunday, 28 October 1984, a bus carrying Palestinian workers and shoppers was attacked in Jerusalem, with an Israeli army-issue 66-mm rocket launcher. A 20-year-old Palestinian, Jamal Ismail Abu Matar, was killed, and 10 Palestinians were seriously wounded.

The forcefulness of the rocket attack was so great that, according to the New York Times of 29 October, the bus and roadside were splattered with the blood of the passengers. Also mentioned was that the weapon used was a United States-made 2-foot-long rocket launcher in wide use by the Israeli infantry. It is important to recall that several such actions in pursuance of the Israeli policy of State terrorism in the occupied Palestinian territories have been carried out with weapons issued to the Israeli army, and in several instances those perpetrating these criminal acts were Israeli soldiers either on active service or in the Israeli reserves.

21 NOVEMBER 1984
On 21 November 1984, a student at Bir Zeit University, Sharif Khalil Taibe, was killed and six others wounded when Israeli troops opened fire on a large crowd of demonstrators in Bir Zeit village. The following day, in Ramallah, Israeli troops again fired into a demonstration by a group of youths, resulting in the death of Bakr Abdullah, a student at the Ramallah Industrial Secondary School, and the wounding of another.

Another demonstration by a group of women to mourn Mr. Taibe's death was dispersed by troops using tear gas. The troops also forced Palestinian shopkeepers who had closed their stores after the incidents to reopen them.

Other demonstrations in Jelaila refugee camp near Gaza and in Nablus were also dispersed by Israeli troops.

13 DECEMBER 1984
On the night of 13 December 1984, the Israeli forces attacked some southern villages located in the zone covered by the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL). This large-scale military action resulted in the death of four people and the wounding of dozens of others. In addition, hundreds of civilians were arrested or detained.

This operation covered the following villages: Tora, Burj Rahhal, Marakah, Tair Dibba, Bidyas, Al-Adeissa, Al-Ab- I basia and Yanouh. The Israeli forces that took part in the , assault were estimated to number 4,000. To justify their aggression, the Israelis claim that some of the inhabitants of the villages were planning to attack the Israeli forces.

The United Nations Force was unable to withstand the Israeli attack because of the heavy gunfire and aerial bombing, particularly since a large number of Israeli helicopters participated in the attack. The United Nations Force tried to inspect the area after the attack but was prevented from doing so by the Israeli forces.

5 FEBRUARY 1985
On 5 February, 1985, Israeli occupation troops opened fire on Palestinians near the Burj Al-Shamali refugee camp, wounding several Palestinian refugees including women and children. Israeli occupation troops then proceeded to surround the camp, seal it off, cut off the electricity, and impose a curfew. Shortly thereafter, Israeli occupation troops stormed the camp and carried out mass arrests on Palestinian refugees.

6 FEBRUARY 1985
On 6 February 1985 at 7: 15 a.m. Israeli occupation troops, in an armoured vehicle passing through the Tyre area with an Israeli military convoy, opened fire on civilians, hitting a passenger car and seriously wounding the six Palestinians inside.

12 FEBRUARY 1985
On 12 February 1985: the village of Kamed El-Loz is surrounded and a house in it belonging to a Mr. Mohieddine Hussein Ghaddar, is demolished.

15 FEBRUARY 1985
15 February 1985: the Israeli forces continue, for the fourth consecutive day to surround Kamed El-Loz and to prevent its inhabitants to enter or leave the village, even the sick and the elderly; a food shortage is being felt by the population.

17 FEBRUARY 1985
17 February 1985: the villages of Deir Mimas and Kfar Kila are besieged and 15 and 22 persons are being detained from each.

18 FEBRUARY 1985
18 February, 1985: the Israeli forces enter the village of Bazurieh, shooting at random and conducting searches of houses and places of worships, ransacking their furnitures and detaining nine persons. The Israeli forces also shot Mr. Ghazi Awada (10 years old) and Mohammed Jaafar Kassir (1 8 years old) seriously wounding them at the triangle of Deir Qanun El Nahr,

18/19 FEBRUARY 1985
During the night of 18-19 February 1985: the village of Tibnin is raided, its houses stormed and one inhabitant, Mr. Mohammed Mahmoud Haidar (20 years old) shot at and killed.

19 FEBRUARY 1985
The Israelis shot at 2 persons, killing them instantly: Mr. Salim Mohammed Elabed (58 years old), on the road between the villages of Burj Rahal and Qasrnieh, and Mr. Louay Riad Fakih, in the triangle of Abbassieh - Deir Kanoun - Burj Rahal.

At the intersection leading to the region of Nabeh El Tasseh, the Israeli forces surrounded the area when an unidentified dead man corpse was found, and prevented the Lebanese internal security forces from investigating on the scene.

The village of Burj Rahal is surrounded, its school destroyed and the teachers detained.

20 FEBRUARY 1985
At the passover to Numeiryeh, two women Najwa Hussein Mahmoud (20 years old) and Khadijeh Mohammed Taleb (54 years old) were shot at, and seriously wounded. Three bulletridden corpses from Israeli fire were found on the road between the villages of Bazurieh and Tair Debbah.

21 FEBRUARY 1985
The Israeli forces entered the village of Bazurieh, blew up four houses and detained four persons.

In the village of Arab Salim, after four days of still continuing siege, it is reported that: nobody is allowed to leave the village; a great number of casualties, dead and wounded, still lay in the streets; four people are known to have been killed, one of them was identified as Mr. Hassan Ahmad Hassan (29 years old); six houses were razed by the Israeli bulldozers; Red Cross delegates were prevented from entering the village; and all the houses and the cars were looted or stolen.

1 MARCH 1985
On the evening of 1 March 1985, several units from the Israeli occupation army and border guard stormed both the old and new campuses of Bir Zeit University. This latest fascist attack against Bir Zeit University was to stop the opening of a Palestinian cultural exhibit sponsored by the Bir Zeit Student Council and Staff Union. During the attack several Palestinian students were badly injured.

The Israeli occupation army then declared Bir Zeit University a military zone, suspended classes at the University and proceeded to arrest scores of Palestinian students and faculty members.

Concomitantly, other units from the Israeli occupation army and border guard stormed homes of Palestinian students, arrested scores and carried out on-the-spot interrogations.

2 MARCH 1985
At 7.30 a.m. on Saturday, 2 March 1985, Israeli forces surrounded and stormed the village of Maarakah (located south of Litani River in the vicinity of the town of Tyre). More than 800 Israeli soldiers and over 50 armoured vehicles (tanks, personnel carriers and two bulldozers) took part in the operation, after which 350 citizens were locked up at the village school after being interrogated; 17 of them were later taken away to an unknown destination. In addition, one vehicle and four houses were totally destroyed.

Before leaving the village of Maarakah, the Israeli forces also planted mines and explosives at the village Mosque (Husseynieh) and blew it up when villagers were gathered there at midday on Monday, 4 March 1985. It is estimated that as many as 200 people were inside the mosque when it was blown up. According to preliminary reports on this massacre which have reached us, at least 15 were killed, another 45 wounded, dozens are still trapped amid the rubble, and rescue operations are continuing.

The Israeli forces prevented ambulances and other emergency vehicles from entering the village; they surrounded the hospital in the village of Jebel Aamel, the village closest to Maarakah, and fired shots in the air to terrorize the people and prevent the wounded from being taken to hospital.

2 MARCH 1985
On Saturday, 2 March 1985, Al-Najah University, also in the Israeli occupied Palestinian West Bank, was stormed and surrounded by units from the Israeli army.

3 MARCH 1985
On Sunday, 3 March 1985, massive Israeli reinforcements were sent to the University in an attempt to crush a protest by thousands of Palestinian students against the latest Fascist Israeli attack against Bir Zeit University, and to demand the immediate release of all Palestinian students and faculty members arrested during the attack.

21 MARCH 1985
On 21 March 1985, after an intensive bombardment of the villages of Houmine el-Tahta and Kfar Milke, the Israeli forces besieged the following villages of the district of Zahrani: Arb Salim, Homine el-Faouqa, Sarba, Ain Qana, Jabaa, Kfar Fila, Kfar Milke, Jbal el-Arab, Mazraat Tiba and Anqoun.

Approximately 60 motorized vehicles and "Merkava" tanks, hundreds of soldiers and elements of the Lahad force and helicopters and special paratroop units participated in the operation. The Israeli forces advanced to within seven kilometres of the town of Sidon, besieging, on their way, three Lebanese army posts situated in the area which they had evacuated in the first phase of their withdrawal, leaving numerous wounded and causing material damage. At Houmine el-Tahta, 20 persons were found dead under the ruins of a school and several houses which the Israeli forces had destroyed.

The Israeli tanks pounded the village of Kfar Milke, killing two journalists from a United States television team - Tewfik Ghazawi and Bahij Metni, hit by shots aimed intentionally in their direction by one of the Israeli tanks.

30 MARCH 1985
Israeli occupation troops opened fire on Palestinians during the 30 March 1985 celebrationson the occasion of the Day of the Land, in the Israeli occupied Palestinian West Bank and Gaza Strip.

9 SEPTEMBER 1985
On 9 September 1985, paratroopers shot and seriously wounded four Palestinian children in Al-Khalil (Hebron). Today, paratroopers have rampaged through the Palestinian towns of Jenin and Nablus indiscriminately attacking and beating up Palestinian men, women and children, creating an atmosphere of sheer terror.

Last night 20 more Palestinians were detained under the 4 August 1985 Administrative Detention Law. Curfews are still in effect in Ramallah and Al-Khalil (Hebron). Collective punishments have reached an acute level. Zionist settler vigilantism has spread throughout the occupied Palestinian territories, and settlers are actively engaged in drumming up anti-Palestinian hatred. Censorship of the Palestinian press is in effect.

1 OCTOBER 1985
On Tuesday, 1 October 1985, six Israeli military aircraft flying from the east at a low altitude penetrated Tunisian airspace and, at 10.07 a.m., bombed the civilian locality at Borj-Cedria called Hammam-Plage, situated in the southern suburbs of Tunis, dropping five (5) delayed-action bombs weighing 1,000 pounds each.

This operation, for which Israel has officially claimed responsibility, has resulted in the loss of many human lives, with the toll now standing at more than 50 dead and nearly 100 wounded, while the search goes on for those still buried beneath the rubble. In addition it has caused material damage and destruction on a wide scale.

Contrary to what Israeli officials are claiming, the place chosen as the target for this cowardly attack is situated in an exclusively residential urban area which traditionally has been home to Tunisian families and a small number of Palestinian civilians who had to flee from Lebanon following the invasion of that country by the Israeli army.

This totally unjustifiable Israeli raid constitutes a blatant act of aggression against Tunisia's territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence, and a flagrant violation of the rules and norms of international law and of the principles embodied in the Charter of the United Nations.

7 FEBRUARY 1986
On Monday, 17 February 1986, Israel carried out largescale military operations in southern Lebanon, under the supervision of the Israeli Minister of Defence, Yitzhak Rabin. A military force composed of more than 600 troops, supported by large numbers of tanks and personnel-carriers and also by helicopters and aircraft, attacked 15 Lebanese villages and penetrated deep into Lebanese areas until it reached the vicinity of the town of Tyre. After receiving reinforcements that brought number of troops to more than 1,000 men and the number of vehicles to hundreds of tanks and personnelcarriers, this force returned to continue its operations on Tuesday, 18 February 1986. It again crossed the borders of what the Israelis call the "security zone" in a northerly direction, set up road blocks, raided houses and interrogated the inhabitants after assembling them in the public squares or in hospitals, as was the case in the town of Tibnin, located in the area of operation of the Irish contingent of UNIFIL. The Israeli forces are still occupying the villages of Shaqra, Sultaniyah, Qa'qa'iyah, Haris, Kafra and Haddatha. The helicopters and aircraft are flying in the airspace over the areas of Tyre, Marjayoun, Bint Jbayl and Nabatiyah, sometimes at a low altitude in order to terrorize the civilian population.

7 APRIL 1986
For the second time in 10 days the Israeli air force, using United States made planes, attacked civilian targets in Lebanon. Today, in six consecutive attacks lasting 45 minutes, the Israeli air force attacked the Sidon area and bombed the Palestinian refugee camps of Ein El-Helweh, Mieh-Mieh and the surrounding area. A large number of Palestinian and Lebanese civilians have been killed and wounded. Among the wounded are three little children in serious condition. There is also extensive material damage.

15 MAY 1986
On the morning of 15 May 1986, members of the settlement Ma'aleh Adumim used bulldozers to raid the waqf property of the Al-Khan al-Ahmar mosque and the adjoining buildings, claiming that the waqf authorities possessed 20 dunums of land around the mosque and had been renting out the land for decades under formal agreements.

10 SEPTEMBER 1986
On 10 September 1986, Israeli gunships (helicopters) escorted by F15s and F16s and naval destroyers attacked Palestinian refugee camps in south Lebanon. Massive barrages of rockets were fired on the refugee camps, and in particular on El-Mieh Mieh. The inhuman and barbaric attack resulted in three dead and several wounded. Most of the casualties were babies, children and the elderly. Material damage to the camps is extensive.

25 SEPTEMBER 1986
Israeli war-planes bombed the Baalbek area in the Bekaa Valley on Thursday, 25 September 1986. On the same day a number of Israeli war-planes had raided the south-eastern suburbs of the city of Sidon and fired three air-to-ground missiles which resulted in the death of one person and injury to two others, according to information provided to date. The Israeli Air Force continued to fly over the city of Sidon, the Mieh Mieh and Ein el-Hilweh camps and other neighbouring areas for some hours after the air raid.

16 OCTOBER 1986
On 16 October, 1986, between 9.20 and 11.20 a.m. New York time, Israeli jets bombed the Palestinian refugee camps of Mieh Mieh, Ein El-Helweh and Al-Fawwar, which resulted in heavy casualties among the Palestinian refugees in those camps. Eighteen Israeli F-15s and F-16s carried out five sorties against those Palestinian refugee camps.

16 OCTOBER 1986
Beginning at 3.45 p.m. on Thursday, 16 October 1986
(Lebanese time) Israeli fighter aircraft bombed the town of Sidon and the neighbouring area in southern Lebanon on four successive occasions. The Israeli Navy participated in the raid, its units patrolling the Lebanese coast. During the operations Israeli troops were landed in Lebanese territory, while helicopters fired at random on the area.

19 OCTOBER 1986
On 19 October 1986, Khalil Yusef Ba'lousheh, 50 years old, from the occupied Palestinian Gaza Strip, was savagely stabbed in the back with a butcher knife by an Israeli attacker. Ba'lousheh, a daily sanitation worker in Ashdod, had bent down to pick up garbage when the knife was plunged into his back. The knife lodged one centimetre from his spine, injuring a lung. The Israeli press reported that Israeli onlookers stood idle while Ba'lousheh lay in the street bleeding profusely and as his attacker ran away. To date no arrests have been made.

A second attack on two unidentified Palestinian day workers, also from the occupied Palestinian Gaza Strip, took place on 20 October 1986. Three Israelis posing as police officers stopped, searched, beat and kicked the two Palestinians, then chased after them with a knife. The police arrived while the Israelis were chasing the two Palestinian day workers. The Jerusalem Post reported the next day that one of the Israeli attackers was held only for a short time.

25 OCTOBER 1986
At noon on 25 October 1986, a gang of approximately 30 Zionist settlers stormed the yard of the Palestinian high school in the Wad neighbourhood in Jerusalem's Old City, claiming that Palestinian students had thrown stones at them. Furious at being prevented from entering the school buildings by teachers and guards, the settlers viciously attacked the teachers. The settlers were later dispersed by police; no arrests or charges were made. Ironically, the following day, the police summoned the school principal Abd al-Muhsin Jaber and informed him that he was being taken to court for allowing his students to "attack pedestrians".

3 NOVEMBER 1986
During the evening of 3 November 1986,50 heavily armed Israeli soldiers broke into the home of Dr. Gabi Baramky, Vice-president of Bir Zeit University. He was forceably dragged from his home and taken to the University campus where the soldiers carried out a search and seizure campaign. School books, magazines and newspapers, as well as press releases issued by the Student Council pertaining to upcoming student activities commemorating the International day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People, were confiscated in a blatant show of Israeli censorship. The soldiers then attacked the student residences and arrested scores of Palestinian students whose whereabouts are still unknown.

At the same time as the attack on Bir Zeit University campus and students, Israeli soldiers were attacking the student residences of Bethlehem University. Thirty students were arrested and taken to Al-Fara'a prison. The home of Nirnr Farid Aiwneh, President of the Student Council, was broken into by Israeli soldiers who, before arresting him, ransacked and smashed his belongings. This attack on students from Bethlehem University comes in the wake of an order last week by the military commander of the area, Yahoda Brak, that the University be closed for a week after students held a memorial service commemorating the coldblooded massacre of 47 Palestinian villagers from Kafr Kassem by Israeli soldiers in 1956.

4 DECEMBER 1986
Military forces of the occupying Power, Israel, opened fire this morning, 4 December 1986, on students from Bir Zeit University. Three students were shot dead, one is critically wounded and 15 others have been transferred to hospitals in Ramallah and Jerusalem for treatment. Several of the wounded have been kidnapped from their hospital beds by Israeli troops and taken to unknown destinations.

Five hundred Israeli troops are roaming the streets of Rarnallah and Bir Zeit, both towns having been declared military zones and out of bounds to the press, both local and international. Israeli troops continued their siege of Bir Zeit University, where some 200 students are under siege.

4 JANUARY 1987
On Sunday, 4 January 1987, Israeli combat helicopters bombed two villages, Kabrikha and Khirbet-Salum, in southern Lebanon and to the north of the sector called the "security zone," which Israel is continuing to occupy and from which it refuses to withdraw, thus violating the relevant Security Council resolutions. The bombing caused dozens of civilian casualties, destroyed buildings and wiped out crops.

9 JANUARY 1987
On Friday, 9 January 1987, at 9.30 a.m., four Israeli warplanes bombed the district of Darb es Sim and the heights of Jabal el Halib in the outskirts of the township of Maqhdoushe, while four more warplanes flew over the area. The bombing caused material and human losses in addition to frightening the unfortunate inhabitants, mostly elderly people, women and children.

11 JANUARY 1987
On Sunday, 11 January 1987, at 8.40 p.m., the Israeli army used tanks to bombard the township and outskirts of Baraasheet, some dozen kilometres north of what is referred to as the "security zone," occupied by Israel is southern Lebanon. The shelling caused material and human losses, and one projectile struck the headquarters of the Irish contingent of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon. One member of that contingent, Sergeant Dermot MacLaighlin (age 33), was killed. He is the second Irish soldier to be killed in two months by the Israeli army and its hirelings, notably the so-called "South Lebanese Army."

12 January 1987
On Monday, 12 January 1987, at 1.15 p.m., the Israel Air Force bombed the south-eastern suburbs of Sidon, causing considerable damage to a large number of buildings, including one school, and affecting many civilians.

7-8 APRIL 1987
On 7 and 8 April 1987, the Israeli Air Force flew low over the city of Sidon and its outskirts, spreading fear and terror among the civilian population. Four previous Israeli air raids against southern Lebanon had taken place since the beginning of 1987, on 9 and 12 January and 20 and 23 March, killing 10 civilians and wounding 17 others.

13 APRIL 1987
On 13 April, Israeli warships intercepted a commercial cargo vessel sailing under the Panamanian flag off the port of Sidon and carried out an inspection of the vessel. They then prevented it from entering the port and warned it against making a further attempt to return there. . Also on 13 April, the Israeli Army began to lay a 22- kilometre road inside Lebanese territory along the edge of the eastern sector of the so-called "security zone," with a view to isolating the inhabitants of the neighboring villages from their agricultural land adjacent to the zone.

14-15 APRIL 1987
On 14 and 15 April, Israeli warships intercepted four commercial vessels bound for the port of Sidon. After inspection of the vessels and close questioning of their crews, particularly Arab crew members, they were prevented from proceeding to the port. The naval blockade of the Sidon harbour has, thus, now entered its second week, causing basic foodstuffs to disappear from the markets. On 15 April, three Israeli Air Force formations flew together over the capital (Beirut), the city of Sidon and its outskirts, the mountains and the Bekaa Valley, breaking the sound barrier over Beirut.

18 APRIL 1987
On 18 April, Israeli military helicopters bombarded the Rashidieh camp on the outskirts of the city of Tyre, aiming at a one-storey building.

19 APRIL 1987
On 19 April, the Israeli forces bombarded the town of Zillaya in the western Bekaa with heavy artillery and automatic weapons and also bombarded 14 villages in the south, injuring a number of people and causing serious material damage.

21 APRIL 1987
Four civilians were killed or injured as a result of bombardment of the two villages of Yatar and Kafra by the so-called "South Lebanon Army." The person who died was an old man and the injured consisted of another old man, two women and a four-month-old child.

22 APRIL 1987
On 22 April, the so-called "South Lebanon Army" shelled the two villages of Jarjouh and Arab Salim in the central sector, destroying 12 houses. The Israeli Air Force flew over the city of Sidon while an Israeli vessel continued to prevent ships from entering the city's port.

23 APRIL 1987
On 23 April, the Israeli Air Force flew over the south, particularly over the cities of Sidon and Tyre and their outskirts. It carried out three mock raids between 10 a.m. and 10.45 a.m. (Lebanese time). Four military helicopters then bombarded the outskirts of Sidon, aiming at two inhabited buildings. The same aircraft had carried out a similar raid on the night of 22/23 April.

On 23 April, Israeli aircraft dropped pamphlets with a message of warning from General Yossi Peled, Commanding Officer of the Northern Front, addressed to residents of Nabatiye and Tyre. Meanwhile, Israeli naval units continued their blockade of the Sidon harbour and the Israeli Air Force made further sorties over southern Lebanon.

On the night of 23 April, the Israeli Air Force carried out criminal raids against the outskirts of the city of Sidon, the Ein El Hilweh and Mieh Mieh camps, Jebel El Halib and Darb Es Seim, More than 30 bombs and rockets were fired during the raids, resulting in injuries to a number of civilians and serious material damage to property.

24 APRIL 1987
On 24 April, the Israeli Army and the so-called "South Lebanon Army" bombarded the outskirts of the villages of Yatar, Kafra and Sribbine, where 24 mortar shells were registered as having fallen. Three artillery projectiles from tanks were also recorded as having fallen near the village of Braachit. Projectiles from heavy automatic weapons struck the positions of the Nepales unit in the village of Yatar.

The Israeli Navy also maintained its blockade of the Tyre and Sidon harbours, while artillery bombardment of villages in the south continued for a full 24 hours.

Military and civilian officials persisted in their warnings and threats, particularly former Defence Minister Ariel Sharon and General Rafael Eitan, who referred on 24 April to the need to expand the area of the "security zone" in order to guarantee the security of Israel's northern border.

6 MAY 1987
The Israeli Air Force renewed its bombing of the southeastern suburbs of the city of Sidon at dawn on Wednesday, 6 May 1987, aiming at a number of peaceful Lebanese villages in the area and Palestinian camps, particularly the Ein El Hilweh camp located south of the city's port. According to the latest information, the bombing killed 15 people and wounded 30 others, all the victims being civilians.

Israeli naval units also stepped up their blockade of the ports of Tyre and Sidon and continued their acts of sea piracy against commercial vessels inside Lebanese territorial waters with a view to preventing them from entering the two harbours. Reports indicate that Israel is taking steps to make the port at Ras Naqoura, on the border between Lebanon and Israel, into a naval base as an alternative to the port of Haifa.

28 MAY 1987
At noon on 28 May 1987, Israeli warplanes intercepted a Lebanese training and reconnaissance plane which was assisting a yacht in Lebanese territorial waters. After warning shots had been fired, the Lebanese plane, a Fouga Magister, was forced to land in Israel, where the two members of the Lebanese crew, Colonel Khalil Matr and Captain Samir Ma'luni, were interrogated continuously for four hours, after which they and the plane were released.

31 MAY 1987
On 3 1 May 1987 an Israeli armoured force penetrated deep into Lebanese territory, reaching the town of Jezzine, some 10 miles north of the so-called "security zone," where it took up quarters. In addition, Israeli artillery and the South Lebanon Army bombarded the town of Nabatiya and its outskirts. As a result of this attack, an as yet undetermined number of people, including one small child, were killed or wounded, and extensive damage was done to property.

17 JUNE 1987
In the morning, military helicopters conducted a raid against the village of Kabrikhanorth of the so-called "security zone," firing five air-to-ground missiles at it, which resulted in the wounding of a number of the inhabitants and damage to property.

In the afternoon, Israeli Air Force planes conducted a raid against the eastern outskirts of the city of Sidon and the Ein El Hilweh camp, causing the death of one person and the wounding of six others, including a man in his seventies. This was in addition to losses of buildings and property.

Israeli Army artillery shelled a number of villages located along the edge of the so-called "security zone7' which Israel is occupying inside Lebanese territory. An adolescent girl in the village of Kafr Roummane and a woman in the village of Habbouche were killed.

A force from the so-called "South Lebanon Army" advanced hundreds of metres from inside the "security zone" in the direction of the village of Kafra, which is located within the area of operation of the Nepalese unit. Before its withdrawal, it fired 15 missiles from its tanks at a deserted house on the road between Kafra and Haris and demolished it.

In the evening of the same day (11.30 local time), an Israeli force composed of hundreds of elements and with tank support penetrated six kilometres to the north of the so-called "security zone" and began combing a number of villages and farms.

26-27 JULY 1987
During the night of 26-27 July last, an Israeli commando force consisting of some 40 men came ashore on the Lebanese coast south of Sarda, 40 kilometers north of the Israeli border. Using fast boats and helicopters, they attacked with missiles and machine-guns, leaving seven dead and four wounded - all Lebanese - before withdrawing under cover of intense bombardment from the sea and from the air.

9-10 AUGUST 1987
On Sunday, 9 August, the Israeli Air Force carried out an attack on the village of Soultaniye, which resulted in casualties among the population and large-scale losses of property.

During the night of Sunday, 9 August/Monday, 10 August, areas to the east of Sidon were subjected to mortar shelling by the so-called "South Lebanon Army." The shelling lasted a number of hours.

10 AUGUST 1987
On Monday, 10 August, four Israeli Cobra helicopters bombarded the village of Qa'qa'iyat Al Jisr and the course of the Litani river from 4.50 p.m. until 6.15 p.m. They used heavy machine-guns and air-to-ground missiles, one of which hit a civilian Mercedes, killing one citizen and wounding two others. The Israeli leadership justified this crime by claiming that the car was "suspect." Israeli artillery participated by spraying hills, valleys and fields with incendiary bombs, which ignited fires in farmland and olive orchards in the area.

5 SEPTEMBER 1987
At 10.26 a.m. on Saturday, 5 September 1987, the Israeli Air Force carried out three air attacks on Ein El Hilweh Palestinian refugee camp, which resulted in massive human carnage. The air attacks, carried out at 20-minute intervals, were directed at the refugee camp and surrounding area, but primarily concentrated on the northern and southern camp perimeters. Casualty figures at this time are 49 civilians, including women and children killed, and over 100 injured. Scores of civilians are missing buried under the rubble. The timing and style of the attack was for inflicting the largest number of casualties - a premeditated massacre of Palestinian refugees.

6 SEPTEMBER 1987
On 6 September 1987, Israeli naval units consisting of one destroyer and six gunboats bombarded Rashidieh Palestinian refugee camp, resulting in several civilian casualties.

10 OCTOBER 1987
On 10 October 1987, a squadron of four Israeli fighters staged an air raid on Yanta and its surrounding area (~ekaa region), located approximately 40 kilometers from the Lebanese-Israeli border, firing over 20 rockets, which, according to a provisional count, caused many casualties and major material damage.

15 DECEMBER 1987
An Israeli helicopter bombarded a Lebanese Army position at Ain et Tine (western Bekaa) and made direct hits on it resulting in the destruction of an armoured vehicle and the 480 Encvclouedia of the Palestine Problem wounding of one of the soldiers.

An Israeli force, supported by tanks and helicopters, advanced from within the so-called "security zone" towards the town of Maidoun, which lies at a distance of 21 kilometers from the Israeli frontier and, under heavy artillery cover, aimed at the town and its surroundings. This operation, which took four hours, resulted in a total of 25 killed or wounded.

Following the completion of the above-mentioned operation, the Israeli forces proceeded to occupy what was for them a new position outside the so-called "security zone" and approximately 2 kilometres to the north of the last position of the Israeli forces.

The villages of Yatar, Braachit and Kafra were exposed to shelling, which caused material losses of houses and agricultural crops.

21 DECEMBER 1987
On Monday, 21 December, towards afternoon, the region located between the Qaaqaiet El Jisr valley and Habbouche was subjected to bombardment supported by artillery fire aimed mainly at the village of Arabsalim. This caused the death of 7 people and wounded 25 others, including civil defence elements. Two vehicles belonging to the Lebanese Red Cross were also completely burned.

On the morning of Monday, 21 December, the villages of Jebaa and Arabsalim and the area surrounding Ain Kana were subjected to bombardment, coming from the so-called "security zone" and supported by simulated aerial attacks carried out by the Israeli air force, which resulted in considerable material losses.

9 AUGUST 1988
On Tuesday, 9 August 1988, between 9.55 a.m. and 11.55 a.m. local time, six combat aircraft made 12 strikes during which they fired 30 missiles and high-explosive rockets. In the course of this criminal attack, two persons were killed outright, seven others were wounded and buildings were completely destroyed.

16 SEPTEMBER 1988
At 1730 hours local time on 16 September last, an Israeli force of an estimated 200 troops supported by 30 tanks and one armoured personnel carrier penetrated beyond the socalled "security zone" after having removed the earth embankment on the main Mimis-Hasibiya road. The attack was divided into two axes, the first in the direction of Mimis and the second in the direction of Ayn Ata. The attack had been preceded by a preparatory heavy artillery bombardment from within the so-called "security zone" aimed against Mimis, Kafir and Ayn Ata, where a number of inhabitants were wounded and a number of houses destroyed as a result of the bombardment. The aggressor forces then entered the villages of Mimis, Kafir and Khalwah, where they imposed a curfew and proceeded to search houses and intimidate the inhabitants before withdrawing a few hours after their incursion into the area.

21 OCTOBER 1988 On the morning of Friday, 21 October 1988, the Israeli Ail Force launched a series of air raids on the outskirts of the cit; of Sidon, the Palestinian camps, the Iklim Al Toufah area, anc the towns of Machghara and Ain Tine, both of them locatec deep inside Lebanese territory at a distance of 30 kilometre: from Lebanon's southern borders, and bombed the village: of Lawizeh and Jabal Safi in the central zone of southerr Lebanon.

At 10 a.m., a squadron of Israeli aircraft bombed residen. tial neighborhoods in the outskirts of Sidon and in the Palestinian camps, causing damage to numerous buildings anc successive violent explosions which made it impossible tc carry out rescue operations, clear the wreckage and count tht dead and wounded; as of the present moment, there are three known dead and about 10 wounded, including 7 doctors.

Twenty minutes after the first attack, a squadron of Israel aircraft made up of six warplanes and two helicopters of tht Cobra type carried out a concentrated attack on the towns o Machghara and Ain Tine in the Iklim Al Toufah area south of the Baqa plain. the savage and indiscriminate bombing caused the destruction of numerous homes and a clinic, whose collapse killed six persons, including three patients, twc nurses and a child under the rubble. About 20 persons wert wounded, and rescue workers are continuing to clear tht wreckage and search for missing persons. These numbers are bound to increase after completion of the search operations which are still continuing some seven hours after the attack in view of the great quantity of wreckage and the shortage o equipment necessary to clear it away. Voices and cries for help from those buried beneath the wreckage can still be heard at the present moment.

24 OCTOBER 1988
On Monday, 24 October 1988, at 0130 hours local Lebanese time), the Israeli air force again attacked Lebanest territory from the air. Two Phantom aircraft bombed the outskirts of the village of Beit Lahia, situated on the banks o the Bekaa, at a distance of 15 kilometers from the are: occupied by Israel and described as a "security zone" by it and fired four air-to-ground missiles. At the time of writins of this letter, it is impossible to assess the damage and humar losses inflicted by the attack.

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