Zionist terrorism, War Crimes And Crimes Against Humanity - Part 5

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

Encyclopedia of the Palestine Problem, Chapter Seventeen, Part 5 of 6

1 MAY 1980
Today, in the village of Anabta, (Israeli) troops, under the command of the Military Governor, tried to confront Palestinian students who were manifesting their rejection of and opposition to the Carter-Begin-Sadat conspiracy on the occasion of May Day. The commander ordered his men to shoot at the demonstrators. Seventeen-year-old Najah Ahmad Abu Aliyeh was wounded in his leg, but he managed to rise and attempted to take away the gun from an SS trooper. At that moment the (Israeli) commander gave the order to shoot and kill. Seventeen-year-old Najah joined the ranks of martyrs .... The commander instructed the troopers to beat the other students; as a result, two other students received serious injuries and were rushed to a hospital. Anabta was "sealed" and the press was banned from visiting the site.

Today, again, other (Israeli) troopers raided a girls' college at Bireh, kidnapped a girl student and took her away. Her schoolmates demonstrated and used the only weapons available, stones, against the (Israeli) troopers. The situation at Jerusalem, Bir Zeit, Ramallah, Bireh and Jalazon, in particular, is very tense.

At Jerusalem again today the (Israeli) police force attempted to break up a rally, again to protest against the Camp David accords, and arrested and detained 22 young Palestinian students.

... The United States citizen, the Zionist Meir Kahane, in complicity with the racist SS troopers, has started a campaign to harass Palestinians and vandalize their property. Kahane's campaign began on the infamous "night of the hammers", when he and his gang damaged 150 cars, property of the Palestinian Arabs at Ramallah and Bireh. It appears that other agents have vandalised Palestinian property at Deir Al-Asal.

As a result of these provocations, there were demonstrations at Ramallah and Bireh and the police shot at the demonstrators, with the tragic result of five wounded. They are: George Boulos Awais (bullet in leg); IssaTannous (bullet in head); Mohammed Mahmoud Said (fractures in both legs); Omar Abdul Jawad Saleh (fractures in feet and arms); Samir Abdel Nour Shahin (fractures in both arms).

At Bethlehem the Zionist forces of occupation warned the city municipal council that a financial blockade will be imposed if the people and the students continue in their uprising. Girl students were threatened with expulsion.

7 MAY 1980
Between 2300 hours on 7 May 1980, and 0400 hours today, Israeli troops were landed at different points along the Lebanese coast between Damour and Sarafand. Naval vessels and helicopters were utilized in the operation. The intruders set up two ambushes, and killed five persons: three at Sa'adiyat and two at Saksakiyah, well inside Lebanese territory and far from the Lebanese-Israeli border.

2 JUNE 1980
On the morning of 2 June 1980, another criminal act of terrorism was committed by the Zionist leadership in Palestine against our Arab people in the occupied territories of the West Bank of Jordan. Three time bombs were planted in cars belonging to Mr. Bassam Shaka'a, Mayor of the city of Nablus; Mr. Karim Khalaf, Mayor of the city of Ramallah. Two of these bombs exploded, causing the dismemberment of the two legs of Mr. Shaka'a, who is now in a very critical condition. The explosion of the second bomb also caused dismemberment of one of Mr. Khalaf's legs and damaged his hand. The third bomb, which exploded in the car belonging to Mr. Al-Tawil, caused complete damage of the car and a bomb expert lost his sight.

3 JUNE 1980
Mr. Bassam Shaka'a, the elected Mayor of Nablus, suffered serious injuries this morning when his car was blown up, with the result that both his legs had to be amputated.

At about the same time, Mr. Karim Khalaf, the elected Mayor of Ramallah, suffered the same fate when his car also exploded, resulting in severe damage to both his feet, one of which had to be amputated.

Mr. Ibrahim Al-Tawil, the elected Mayor of Al-Bireh, was saved from a similar fate, although a bomb squad expert was blinded by a bomb rigged to a garage door which exploded in his face.

Furthermore, bombs exploded near an Arab elementary school of Al-Khalil (Hebron), killing 7 and wounding 14 Arab inhabitants.

In a separate incident, two students of Bir Zeit University were shot without provocation by soldiers of the Israeli army, one in the back and the other in the leg and side.

26 JUNE 1980
On 26 June, two children, aged 12 and 14, were killed in the afternoon in the village of Bayyadah (10 kilometres from the border) while playing inadvertently with delayed-action explosives carried by a fragmentation bomb. This incident had been officially confirmed by the United Nations spokesman in Lebanon on 27 June.

30 JUNE 1980
On 30 June, at 0035 hours, an Israeli force carried by two helicopters was landed near the Kassmieh bridge and the Kanaters area. As a result of this operation, 13 persons were killed, 29 wounded, two individuals were kidnapped and five houses were demolished. The force withdrew at 0230 hours. After the withdrawal, one person was killed by a booby trap laid by the Israelis.

1 AUGUST 1980
At 0030 hours, an Israeli commando unit launched two naval operations on the Lebanese coast north of the area of operation of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFL). It landed at Damour and Saadiyyat and attacked a privately owned beach. A civilian boat was destroyed, three persons were wounded and a truck transporting cattle was hit. Before withdrawing, the commando force laid some mines on the coast of Damour.

2 AUGUST 1980
At 1600 hours, Israeli artillery based in the village of Khiam, supported by local militias, bombarded the vicinity of Hasbayyah, using 82-mm guns which caused extensive material damage to civilian property. Simultaneously, an Israeli air force was overflying the whole area of operation of UNIFIL in the south and, particularly, the sites being bombarded.

Later, at 2320 hours, a number of Israeli naval vessels cruised inside Lebanese territorial waters opposite Ras el-Ain and Rashidiyyah in the Tyre area.

3 AUGUST 1980
3 August. At 0930 hours, Israeli forces, supported by local militias, bombarded with heavy artillery the western and central area. Five phosphorescent bombs hit Bourj esh- Shemali, wounding two civilians and destroying three vehicles. A number of houses were severely damaged. Two 130-mm shells fired from Marwahhin also fell in the vicinity of Bourj esh-Shemali.

Two 155-mm shells fell in the forest surrounding the village of Juwayyah, and five phosphorescent shells fired from a 175-mm gun fell in the fields of the village of Hadatha, causing substantial material damage.

Forty 130-mm and 175-mm shells were fired at the coast of Rashidiyyah, south of Tyre, wounding two civilians and causing serious damage to a number of houses.

Thirty mortar shells and six phosphorescent shells fell on the village of Blate, wounding one civilian and destroying and burning a number of houses. Three shells hit the village of Tibnin, causing important fires and destroying a number of houses.

One shell fell in the valley between Sultaniyeh and Tibnin, also causing fires.

Three artillery shells fell in the vicinity of the village of Juwayyah.

At 2010 hours, the electric power station of Sultaniyeh was severely hit by artillery.

At 2210 hours, Israeli helicopters overflew the area of Abul-Aswad, Qasmiyeh and Adloun, dropping flare bombs.

4 AUGUST 1980
4 August. At 1200 hours, four phosphorescent shells fell between Rashidiyyah and Shawakir (in the vicinity of Tyre), and one shell hit a disaffected ship in the Tyre harbour.

At 1300 hours, the area extending from Shwatiyyah to Ramadiyyah, Shwakir and Ras el-AIn was heavily bombarded, causing extensive material damage.

Finally, at 2200 hours, Israeli naval vessels cruised inside Lebanese territorial waters between Tyre and Adloun.

14 AUGUST 1980
14 August. At 2020 hours, the towns of Nabatiyyah and Kfar Rumman were heavily shelled.

At 2230 hours, Israeli troops were landed from a sea-craft north of Sidon. They laid an ambush and shot at a passing motor vehicle, killing one person and wounding six others. Meanwhile, Israeli naval vessels, under the cover of jet aircraft and helicopters, bombarded the northern approaches of the city of (Tyre) Sidon.

15 AUGUST 1980
15 August. At 0300 hours, the area south of the village of Brashit was shelled, within the area of operation of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon.

18 AUGUST 1980
This new form of escalation of the so-called preemptive military policy of Israel started at 2215 hours, Monday 18 August, by very heavy artillery shelling which covered the whole area of Arnoun and Beaufort Castle, Kfar Tibnit and Nabatiyyah with no less than 1,700 shells of 155 mm. Field guns and tanks were used whilst massive Israeli troop concentrations were observed well inside the Lebanese international border in the area of Khiam.

The shelling resulted in a very heavy destruction of houses and property.

20 AUGUST 1980
Wednesday 20 August. At 0600 hours, Israeli forces positioned near the village of Blate and Khiam, inside Lebanon, and from positions inside Israel, shelled, with 155-mm field guns, the area of Nabatiyeh, Kfar Rumman and El-Aishiyeh. Israeli artillery was also pounding Tyre, El-Bass and Shawakeer. Firing continued until 0645 hours, and resulted in wounding one woman and destroying many houses.

- At 0720 hours, shelling was resumed and the area of Nabatiyeh, Habboush, Kfar Rumman, Shoukeer, Arnoun, El-Aishiyeh, was continuously hit for five hours. Three persons were wounded at Nabatiyeh and one at Kfar Rumman. Sixteen houses were completely destroyed. At the same time Israeli heavy artillery shelled Tyre, Ar-Rashidiyah Camp and other inhabited areas in the region. When firing ceased at 1420 hours, four persons were killed and two wounded. Further possible casualties are still undetermined, as the rubble of 12 demolished houses has not yet been cleared.

- From 1300 to 1345 hours, Israeli jets bombarded the orphanage, near the village of Shoukeer, and the area around it. The raid resulted in one person being killed and four wounded. In the meantime, Israeli artillery was shelling the region of Hasbaya, Qilya and Yuhmur. As aresult, one person was wounded, four houses were destroyed and extensive damage was caused to agricultural crops.

- From 1445 to 1605 hours, the Israeli air force raided the castle at Arnoun, the forest area at Ali et-Taher, the Nabatiyeh refugee camp and the Bayyad quarter of Nabatiyeh. As a result, two persons were wounded.

- At 2000 hours, three shells hit the Youiya area causing material damage.

At 2200 hours, an Israeli naval vessel was sighted of Damour, inside Lebanese territorial waters. Other Israeli vessels were also sighted off Ar-Rashidiyah refugee camp and off Ras el-Ain, well inside Lebanese territorial waters. These naval vessels intruded inside Lebanon's territorial waters under cover of large helicopter formations.

21 AUGUST 1980
Thursday 21 August. At 0900 hours, 50 shells fell on Amoun and Beaufort Castle, 18 others on Deir A'amis, and 5 on Haddatha. Yuhmur and Kfar Tibnit were intermittently shelled until 1000 hours. Extensive material damage was thus caused.

- At 1045 hours, artillery shelling of Nabatiyeh, Kfar Tibnit, Mazra'at Ali et-Taher and the Islamic orphanage at Shoukeer resulted in the death of one woman and damage to 17 houses.

- At 1130 hours, 10 phosphorescent shells hit Aita el- Jabal causing extensive damage and a number of fires were thus started. Meanwhile, helicopter formations were overflying the area between Marjayoun and Naqoura.

- At 1345 hours, the electric generator, at the crossroad of Kfar Rumman and Nabatiyeh was shelled, plunging the whole area in darkness. Another 130-mm shell hit and damaged the water storage facility, disrupting the water supply to the villages in the area.

-At 1255 hours, 155-mm shells fell on Yatar, Haris and Ayta az-Zutt; one person was injured.

- At 1310 hours, intermittent artillery shelling of Nabatiyeh, Amoun and Yuhmur was resumed, causing material damage in the now evacuated villages.

- At 2015 hours, Israeli naval vessels and helicopters resumed action inside Lebanese territorial waters and air space off Tyre.

29 SEPTEMBER 1980
Israeli artillery shelled El-Bass in the vicinity of Tyre, resulting in wounding two persons and destroying 12 houses. Israeli aircraft overflew the area. Both incidents occurred on 29 September.

30 SEPTEMBER 1980
On 30 September Israeli artillery again shelled the villages of Kfar Tibnit, Zefta, Arnoun and the "Christian Quarter" in Tyre. Preliminary reports speak of material losses and damage to the Greek Catholic bishopric of Tyre.

14 OCTOBER 1980
On the night of 14 October, at 10.30 p.m. a telephone call was received by the doorman of the Armenian Patriarchate, when the main gate of the Armenian Convent (of St. James) was already closed.

The Armenian superior of the Holy Sepulchre, Father Vagharsh Hatchadourian, called to raise the alarm that a fire was raging at the St. Helena Chapel in the Holy Sepulchre. At the same time, he had asked for help from the Greek Orthodox superior of the Holy Sepulchre, Father Daniel.

The dormitory of the Armenian superior is in the upper gallery, in the Armenian church facing the Calvary, quite far from the crypt. The smoke was so dense that it had reached the superior while he had already turned in, on the other side of the church, and three levels above the chapel.

The chapel is the oldest part of the church, the only remnant from the Constantine period, when the cathedral was first constructed (circa 330 A.D.). It has been reconstructed twice in the present century, once in 1937, and again last year. It is situated under the roof, part of the Ethiopian Monastery.

Now that the reconstruction work is still proceeding, excavations were done on the same level, under the Coptic Monastery, behind the alter of the St. Helena Chapel, where excavators unearthed the remains of the Constantinian walls and many other important vestiges of the fourth century.

The Armenians have jurisdiction over this chapel and have named it the Church of St. Gregory the Illuminator, the founder of the Armenian Church (301 A.D.). All the paintings and mosaics depict the life of St. Gregory.

It is in the southern part of this chapel that the scaffoldings and wooden beams are stored. They have been there since excavation and rebuilding work was begun. The fire broke out there.

When the Armenian Father Superior alerted the Patriarchate, two priests and alayman rushed to the place. They went first to the Kishla (citadel) police station, notified them of the fire and asked to call the fire brigade. When they reached the entrance of the chapel, a heavy pall of black smoke was coming up the stairs. After some hesitation, and in the absence of the fire brigade, the two priests and the layman connected the fire-extinguishing pump, which is the main level of the church, and, hoisting the hose onto their shoulders, braved the smoke and walked down the steps, in an attempt to extinguish the fire.

The fire was under control by the time the fire brigade arrived. However, the damage had been done. The main large painting in the chapel was completely destroyed, the huge arch supporting the roof was heavily damaged and all the area was a tragic mess.

The priests and the officials of the fire brigade discovered these important facts:

1. That the beams were burned in the centre, where they lay on the floor of the church, and then spread upwards.

2. There were old rags under the beams, and remains of matches.

3. No remains of candles were found, as was claimed later.

The fact is that no police investigation or any other official action was initiated after the fire. The representatives of the municipality came the next day to ask if any help was needed and to suggest that it was all the result of a candle left there by a pilgrim.

The truth is that there were no pilgrims or worshippers in the church that night. The gates were closed at 7 p.m. as usual, and the Franciscan fathers had been in the area around 9 p.m. without noticing any lighted candles in the place. The scaffoldings and the wooded beams have never served as a place where candles could be lit.

The witnesses are convinced that arson was involved. Somebody put the cloth rags under the heavy and bulky pieces of wood and lit them. The fire spread very rapidly and engulfed the invaluable painting high above the spot where it started.

Who the criminal was, who started that fire, we cannot say at this stage. But it was most definitely a criminal act.

17/18 DECEMBER 1980
During the night of 17/18 December 1980, at 2245 hours, an Israeli force of about 300 troops entered Brashit and other villages. Houses were searched and automatic weapons were fired at people therein, killing three persons and wounding five. The invaders demolished one house and damaged four others. The troops also attacked the villages of Majdal Silm, Shaqra, majdal Zun and Yatter, destroying a total of eight houses.

During the raid, the village of Mazra'at Buyut essayed, in the district of Tyre, was heavily shelled, with enormous damage to property resulting.

18/19 DECEMBER 1980
One day later, in the night of 18/19 December, at 2240 hours, Israeli helicopters overflew the Tyre area, while Israeli gunboats were cruising inside Lebanese territorial waters just off the Tyre coastline.

At 2320 hours, an infantry battalion, accompanied by helicopters, attacked the villages of Aishiyeh, Al-Jurmuq, Al-Mahmoudiyeh and Al-Dimashqiyeh, where the aggressors clashed with armed elements. The Israeli battalion then withdrew at 0435 hours on 19 December.

This morning, at 0325 ours, Israeli gunners shelled the city of Sidon for 30 minutes.

Al-Jumuq and Aishiyeh have been subjected to continuous shelling, and preliminary reports speak of three persons killed and four wounded. Extensive jet and helicopter activity in the Nabatiyeh and Khardali Bridge areas was noticed. The Hasbaya and Ibl as-Saqi regions were also shelled.

29 JANUARY 1981
29 January 198 1. At 1400 hours, Israeli warplanes raided the area around Ain el-Helwe, near Sidon.

At 1410 hours, four Israeli aircraft raided two localities in the Tyre pocket, the station of Kharba Ma'shouq and the village of Jaroudiyeh, north of Bourj esh-Shamali.

Between 1410 and 1420 hours, two Israeli warplanes dropped four bombs on Mazra'at el-Luwaizeh, near Al- Aishiyeh.

Between 1415 and 1420 hours, one Israeli plane dropped a bomb on the Khiami area north of the village of West Zawtar, near Nabatiyeh.

At 1730 hours, Israeli aircraft raided the villages of Rumaileh, Al-Awwali, Wadi ez-Zeineh and Almat. Preliminary reports speak of eight people killed and 42 wounded, as well as of extensive material damage to property.

22/23 FEBRUARY 1981
During the night of 22/23 February 1981, at 2205 hours, five Israeli helicopters landed troops near the village of Kfou, north-west of Nabatiyeh. This operation was carried out under the cover of heavy artillery shelling of the area, with concentration on the following villages: Beaufort, Al-Hamra, Yuhmor, Kfar Tibnit, Horsh en-Nabi Taher, Al-Jurmoq and Nabatiyeh.

The operation lasted four hours, and as a result seven persons were killed and three wounded, two houses were demolished and a large number of livestock destroyed.

7 MARCH 1981
(A cable sent to the United Nations Secretary General by leaders of Orthodox Jews of Me'ah Shearim Batei-ungarin, Jerusalem):

On behalf of thousands of Orthodox Jews at Jerusalem, we beg you please to come to our rescue and save us from the Zionist regime that would want to destroy through their lawless police all and any peaceful opposition to their sacrilegious state.

We beseech you to please note the following. This past Saturday evening, 7 March 198 1, hundreds of Zionist police forces surrounded the synagogue and Yeshiva Toldos Aharon while the sabbath even prayers were being recited. Police loudspeakers then demanded everyone in the building to come out with hands raised. Close to 1,000 men and children were in the synagogue at the time. Within minutes after the police announcement, 12 tear-gas bombs were shot through the windows of the synagogue, causing many children and old men to faint and lose consciousness, and when ambulances arrived to render first aid and take those children and elderly in need to hospitals, the Zionist police did not permit the first aid crews entry, nor did they allow anyone to be carried out of this synagogue.

Suddenly, at a pre-arranged signal 300 helmeted police stormed the Yeshiva and synagogue, broke every window, door, table and bench in the four-storey edifice and tore Bibles, prayer-books and other religious texts, trampling them with their feet and then throwing them out the windows. This unprovoked, completely pre-arranged attack continued until 1 o'clock in the morning. This was not an act by Palestinian "terrorists" but by a "State" that calls itself the only democracy in the Middle East.

Saturday night's pogrom at Jerusalem against hundreds of defenceless Orthodox Jews is but the culmination of months of harassment, jailings and the hospitalization of many victims injured by the club-wielding hooligans of Jerusalem Zionist Mayor Teddy Kollek.

The past few months have seen the water supply of thousands of men, women and children at Me'ah She'arim cut off. Teddy Kollek's municipality, which continuously seeks to close ritual slaughterhouses with the excuse that it detracts from the beautification of the Holy City, refused for an entire month to collect the garbage at Me'ah' She'arim- Batei Ungarin, causing disease and near epidemic.

Forty one people, including Rabbi Uri Blau, were hauled off to Zionist dungeons. The prisoners are not allowed food, nor the use of toilet facilities; they are forced to sleep on bare floors.

These latest actions leave no doubt as to the intentions of the Zionist regime: to stifle the cries of defenceless Jews who have never recognized the Zionist occupation of the Holy Land and especially Jerusalem. The Zionist State has clearly demonstrated their determination to abrogate the civil liberties and religious rights of the Orthodox Jews.

We fear that this is the beginning of a reign of terror that the Zionists mean to implement against all those who reject their claim to the land and name of Israel, as demonstrated by the recent wanton destruction of the Yeshiva and synagogues.

We therefore beg you: (a) To declare immediate United Nations sovereignty over Jerusalem - holy to all mankind; (b) To appoint a responsible person or persons from among the members of the United Nations whose duty it will be to protect the rights and interests of Orthodox Jews, Arabs, and other inhabitants of our Holy City.

17 JULY 1981
At 0100 hours Beirut local time, Sidon was heavily bombed. The hospital Jamal Kaur was hit. Fifteen casualties are reported.

At 0120 hours Ain Al-Hilweh camp was bombed again. Two Israeli destroyers were shelling the area between Tyre and Sidon.

At 0905 hours shelling resumed on Zahrani, Jarmaq, Nabatiyeh and Habboush bridge.

At 1030 hours, in one of the most savage and brutal attacks ever on Lebanon, Israeli planes began repeated attacks on the heavily populated west Beirut districts of Fakhani, Tariq Al-Jadida, Rarnlet Al-Beida, Jnah and Bir Hassan. The Arab University's Schools of Engineering and Communications were bombed, as well as the Mosque of Iman Ali near the University. The Al-Ifran School was also severely hit.

The raid lasted for over an hour. At this time preliminary casualty figures are 87 killed and 479 wounded. I would repeat that these are preliminary figures. Rescue operations are continuing in their desperate attempt to save entire families buried under the ruins of apartment blocks which were destroyed by the savage Israeli bombings. Those families which tied fleeing to safety from the collapsing buildings found themselves in the midst of exploding bombs and rockets, as did the little children who were playing in the streets of Beirut at the time of the attack.

2 MARCH 1982
At 6.30 p.m. on 2 March 1982, a group of 15 Jews calling themselves "Trustees of Temple Mount", armed with machine-guns and bayonets from the Israeli settlement of Kiryat Arba near Hebron, stormed Al-Aqsa Mosque by way of Al-Selsela Gate in Jerusalem. They beat the guards at the entrance and made their way to the holy sanctuary located between the Moroccan Gate and Al-Aqsa Mosque. After a bloody fight, the guards and the police were able to flush out the Jewish group from inside the sanctuary. A Palestinian guard named Hasan Mustafa Hasanin was taken to the hospital to be treated for a bayonet wound in his left side.

11 APRIL 1982
The Islamic Supreme Council in Jerusalem had earlier convened an emergency press conference, in which the aggression on the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque was exposed and also outlined in categorical terms the warnings which it had addressed to the responsible officials on the highest levels in the Israeli Government,

It had requested them to shoulder their responsibilities in preventing what happened yesterday or what might happen in the future against this great sanctuary.

Today, and in the light of the new facts, disclosures and consequences which have become evident in consequence of the outrageous acts which occurred yesterday and what accompanied and followed those sad events, the Islamic Higher Council wishes to state the following:

1. The number of those who were murdered yesterday was two; and the number of the wounded exceeded 100.

2. The forcible assault of the criminal soldier was only an initial phase of the criminal operation. It has been established that firing did not emanate from him alone but from many directions and, in particular, from the western wing of the holy Al-Aqsa Mosque as well as from the roof of the religious school which belongs to the Islamic Higher Council and is under the occupation of the Israeli armed forces, which had expelled the students who were taking Islamic studies there. This proves that the operation had been well-prepared and co-ordinated in advance of the actual event.

3. The assault upon the structure of the Dome of the Rock resulted in damage to it.

4. The grand glass mosaic panel at the entrance to the gate of the Dome of the Rock from its western side was totally destroyed; and serious damage was inflicted on the Dome of the Rock and on the marble pillars within it.

5. Such an operation should not be allowed to happen without warning of the serious consequences which result from enabling armed civilian organizations to impose their authority on the people and to regard themselves as responsible for the land because they are fully armed.

This has enabled these organizations to carry out acts of abduction and wanton assassination as they see fit, drawing their support from the authority which had been accorded to them by the Government to perpetrate acts against the people, who are totally devoid of any arms.

Therefore, we take this opportunity to demand of the Government that it put a stop to these acts of provocation and to place upon it the responsibility for all events and consequences that might occur.

6. The precedent which occurred at the holy Ibrahimi sanctuary and has resulted in depriving the Moslem from freely performing their prayers make it imperative upon us to warn of the serious consequences which would accrue to the holy Al-Aqsa Mosque in consequence of the occupation of Al-Aqsa Mosque by the Israeli forces and their forbidding the worshippers to perform their religious duties. Such a situation gravely contradicts the Islamic Sharia law which absolutely forbids any closure of the Mosque to the worshippers for any reasons whatsoever and under any circumstances.

7. The description of the criminal in the official statements as deranged is rejected and should not be issued by any responsible Government; for it is unreasonable that one of the regular soldiers in its army, who is required to pass a medical examination, should be allowed to carry arms amidst other soldiers. If anyone alleges that this criminal is deranged, then what can be said about the other soldiers who assisted him in the firing spree from the western area? The Islamic Supreme Council rejects the statements of the responsible Israeli officials, which contained audacious and clear distortions against the Islamic Supreme Council, and the attempts of the Israeli officials to offer excuses for the events which occurred.

21 APRIL 1982
The Israeli air force launched three extensive attacks on the coastal area south of Beirut and north-east of Sidon. Various installations at Jiyeh, Saadiyat, Damour, Na'meh, Aramoun, Khalde and Mazboud were raided. Preliminary reports speak of heavy casualties and severe damage to civilian property.

9 MAY 1982
On Sunday, 9 May, Israeli aircraft raided the following localities from 1600 to 1730 hours: El-Delhamiyeh, Ed-Dibbiyeh, Dhahr El-Mghara, the Daadiyat Hills, Zahrani, the Tfahta road, the Sarafand Hills, Al-Ghaziyeh, Maghdousheh, Adloun, An-Najjariyeh, and Ad-Daoudiyeh. Preliminary reports speak of 11 persons killed, 37 wounded, and very extensive damage to property.

4 JUNE 1982
At 3:15 p.m., Beirut local time, waves of Israeli military aircraft began to conduct no less than nine successive bombing raids on the city of Beirut and its outskirts. These fierce attacks have hit civilian targets in densely populated areas and resulted in as yet an undetermined number of casualties and immense destruction of property.

Later in the afternoon, Israeli forces began to shell the area in South Lebanon north of Nabatiyeh, and Israeli seacraft also joined in the shelling.

4 JUNE 1982
Waves of Israeli F-15, F-16 and F-4 fighter bombers launched 10 separate bombing attacks on Beirut and southern Lebanon today. The raids which started at 3:15 p.m. Beirut time lasted for two hours. Israeli planes mercilessly bombed Beirut, hitting Sabra and Shatila camps. Known casualties at this time are 35 dead and 150 seriously wounded.

The air attacks damaged the Nazareth Children's Hospital of the Palestine Red Crescent. Also the Cite Sportif was targeted, this complex is only a few hundred metres from the apartment blocks devastated by Israeli air strikes last year.

Ambulances attempting to carry the wounded from the area were targeted by Israeli planes and attacked.

22 JULY 1982
Israeli forces first broke the cease-fire at 3.30 p.m. Beirut time on 22 July 1982, with a heavy and concentrated artillery and rocket bombardment of the regions of Bayader Al-Adas, Aita Al-Fukhar, Al-Sultan Yaaqoub, Sweiri, Bar Elias and Dahr Al-baidar in the Bekaa valley.

At 4 p.m. Israeli war planes raided the village of Barr Elias near Shtaura in the Bekaa valley. Bombarding civilian targets, the Israeli war planes inflicted numerous civilian casualties. Concurrently, several war planes staged mock air raids over the Lebanese capital, Beirut.

Then, starting at 4.30 p.m., Israeli war planes launched three consecutive and intensive air raids on West Beirut. The raids, lasting 90 minutes, were aimed at the residential areas in Ramlet Al-Baida, Spinneys, the Kuwaiti and Chinese Embassies, the Burj Al-Barajneh refugee camp, the heavily populated Fakhani district and the Cite Sportive. The bombing of Beirut alone resulted in the killing and wounding of 62 civilians, mainly women and children.

24 JULY 1982
On the morning of 24 July, as Israeli war planes carried out repeated overflights of west Beirut, Israeli tanks and artillery opened fire on the airport and Hay Al-Sellurn areas of Beirut. At 2.45 p.m. Israeli war planes began a series of savage air attacks on the residential areas of west Beirut. the main sectors hit were Ramlet Al-Baida, Spinneys, the Chinese Embassy area, bir Hassan, the sports stadium, the heavily populated Sabra and Shatila refugee camps and the Fakhani district. At 3.45 p.m., immediately following the hour-long Israeli air raid, the Israeli naval vessels and land artillery and rocket batteries began shelling some of the same residential areas already bombarded in the Israeli air raid: Ramlet Al-Baida, Bir Hassan, Sabra and Shatila, and Fakhani as well as Cola, Mar Elias, Ouzai, Burj Al-Barajneh refugee camp, Hay Al-Sellum, Al-Mreiheh, Lailaki, Bir Al-Abed, and Haret Al-Hreik.

Fifty-one people, the vast majority of them civilians, were killed or wounded in the joint Israeli air, land and sea bombardments of west Beirut.

26 JULY 1982
In the early morning hours of 26 July, less than five hours following the night attack on the refugee camps of west Beirut, the Israeli forces renewed and escalated their attacks against the besieged western sector of Beirut. For more than two hours, commencing at 1.30 a.m., Israeli land and seabased heavy rocket, artillery and tank fire indiscriminately hit the areas of west Beirut: Ouzai, Ramlet Al-Baida, the Fakhani district, Bir Hassan, Bir Al-Abed, Haret Al-Hraik, Mar Elias and the airport vicinity. The three refugee camps, Sabra, Shatila and Burj Al-Barajneh, were shelled once again.

Under cover of that fire, which continued until 3.30 a.m., Israeli naval units attempted to approach the Saint Simon beach shore in the Jnah/Ouzai region. Defiant Palestinian and Lebanese defenders were able to repulse the attempted Israeli sea-borne landing.

At 10 a.m. Israel artillery, rocket andnaval shelling of west Beirut resumed. For two hours, the Israelis pounded the southern suburbs of the Lebanese capital and concentrated on the Ouzai and airport regions as well as the refugee camp, Burj Al-Barajneh.

Starting at 2.30 p.m., Israeli planes carried bombing raids against residential areas in west Beirut. Hit were the Spinneys, Ramlet Al-Baida, Bir Hassan, Fakhani, Sabra and Burj Al-Barajneh refugee camps, the sports stadium and the Chinese Embassy and airport areas. Several residential buildings were destroyed by fire caused from the shelling, leaving more victims homeless.

After a lull in the air raids of the first days of the siege of Beirut, we are now in the fifth consecutive day of rampant land, sea and air attacks. The civilian casualties in Beirut in the last 24 hours alone have reached 100. The savage Israeli air raids on west Beirut today, by initial reports, have left another 54 civilians dead or wounded. Last night's air, land and sea bombardments took 47 casualties. The intensity and continuity of the Israeli shelling have hindered ambulances and rescue teams from taking the wounded to hospitals.

The Israeli strike forces have been pounding the same targets now for the past seven weeks. The Israeli planes and artillery have devastated the Fakhani residential area, the three refugee camps of Burj Al-Barajneh, Sabra and Shatila, Ouzai and the airport vicinity as well as the sea-front neighborhood, Ramlet Al-Baida. The land and naval bombardments have been continuous since the start of the siege. The weapons lethally shot through civilian areas, showering the Lebanese and Palestinian peoples with cluster, phosphorous and fragmentation bombs. The new, heavy air-to-surface rockets being employed have destroyed entire buildings, both offices and apartment dwellings. In addition to using mortars and tanks, the Israelis are using eight 155-mm artillery battalions in the shelling, and they are firing them simultaneously.

The populations of the Lebanese capital of Beirut is roughly half a million. The civilian population has grown as the victims of the devastated southern regions fled to the capital, seeking security and shelter.

2 AUGUST 1982
Since 2 a.m. Beirut time, the Israelis have been firing shells intermittently at the southern region. Bulldozers began digging trenches in front of positions and earth-works.

Since 6.20 a.m., the Israelis have been violating the ceasefire in the Ouzai area, shelling intermittently with tank artillery and machine-guns.

At 7.45 a.m., Israeli sniping at the Ouzai region began.

At 8 a.m., Israeli tanks advanced from the Sciences Faculty building of the Lebanese University and released smoke, then continued their advance towards Hai Al-Sillum and took positions.

At 10.05 a.m., the Israeli forces were still firing with tanks and machine guns at Hai Al-Sillum as well as Lailaki.

At 10.10 a.m., the Israelis were advancing to the edges of Hai Al-Sillum.

At 10.25 a.m., eight large and small vehicles advanced from south to north on the western runway of Beirut International Airport.

At 10.30 a.m., Israeli forces intermittently shelled in the Ouzai area.

Israeli violations of the cease-fire were continuing into the afternoon hours, with the shelling at 2.45 p.m. of the ouzai, Hai Al-Sillum and Burj Al-Barajneh refugee camps. Israeli tanks also took up new advance forward positions at several points along the front lines.

3 AUGUST 1982
Since 0900 hours today, 3 August, the Israeli invading forces have resumed their intermittent shelling of the regions of Ouzai, Jnah and Burj Al-Barajneh in Beirut's southern suburbs from tank guns positioned along the airport's western runway. Israeli forces were also observed moving their military vehicles in the airport area to occupy stable positions.

Around 1530 hours, the Israelis initiated an intensive preparation bombardment for an assault; then they advanced along the Ouzai axis. Our defiant defenders were able to successfully defeat the Israeli advance and force them back to their starting positions.

9 AUGUST 1982
Since last night, the Israelis have been escalating their military operations, bombarding Beirut from air, land and sea. The shelling included the Ouzai axis, the airport axis, Burj Al-Barajneh, the museum axis, Mraije, Sabra, Shatila and Ramlet Al-Baida, as well as Verdun, Corniche Al-Mazraa and the Kuwaiti Embassy and the Chinese Embassy areas. The bombardment of all these areas is concentrated and intensive. This followed a statement by an Israeli official stating that Israel will not stop military action or the intensification of pressure on Beirut.

At 1900 hours, Beirut time, we were informed that for the preceding four hours, squadrons of Israeli warplanes had continuously bombarded the areas of the southern districts of Beirut, including the Sabra, Shatila, Burj Al-Barajneh and Mar Elias refugee camps, Fakhani, Mazraa, Ramlet Al-Baida and the airport road. Different sectors of Beirut were also shelled from the land and sea.

12 AUGUST 1982
In nine continuous hours of air attacks on west Beirut, Israeli planes had inflicted an estimated 300 casualties in the 16 different residential quarters and Palestinian refugee camps in the bombing.

Israeli planes carried out more than 100 sorties - about 12 per hour - using phosphorous bombs as well as 2,000 pound bombs and several types of rockets. The areas attacked included Verdun, Tallat AL-Khayyat, Aisha Bakkar, Burj Abu Haidar, Barbour and a number of other heavily populated districts.

At 8.30 a.m. Beirut time, the hellish scream of Israeli war planes filled the skies of Beirut as over 25 Israeli bombing runs had been carried out since dawn. The scope of the raids widened to include the areas of Ramlet Al-Baida and the Arab University vicinity. As the Israeli planes dove low over the city and bombs tore into the heavily populated residential areas, the citizens ran for cover, crowding poorly equipped and ill-suited bomb shelters.

By 9 a.m., Israel had carried out over 30 bombing runs against the Palestinian refugee camps of burj Al-Barajneh, Sabra and Shatila and Bir Hassan.

At 10.45 a.m., the Israeli campaign to annihilate what remains of Beirut's four Palestinian refugee camps was well into its fifth hour and escalating by the minute. Wave after wave of Israeli war planes struck hard, dropping phosphorous bombs to ensure the total destruction of the last refuge of Beirut's Palestinian citizens. In addition to the camps of Burj Al-Barajneh, Sabra, Shatila and Mar Elias, the Beirut residential areas of Berbir, Ramlet Al-Baida, Corniche Al-Mazraa and the southern suburbs were all subjected to insane Israeli bombardment.

At noon, the sixth hour of the continuous Israeli air raids, over 400 buildings had been totally destroyed, crumbling over the occupants.

The casualty figure is expected to rise. Most of the victims are believed buried under the rubble of homes and trapped in shelters. Civil defence and ambulance teams' rescue efforts are severely hindered because of the intensity and continuity of the air raids.

17 SEPTEMBER 1982
During the day on 17 September, fighting in the Sabra Camp in the southern suburbs of Beirut was in progress and the presence of Kataeb units (which are the military branch of the Phalange Party) was observed at Bir Hassan, in the hospital and the airport areas, in the vicinity of Sabra camp. West Beirut was reported under IDF control at around 1500 hours GMT on 17 September, with the exception of the Sabra camp area.

From 1600 to 1830 hours GMT on the same day, very sporadic explosions were heard at an undetermined distance northwest of Yarze,w here the OGB office is temporarily located. Four minutes before midnight GMT, flares were seen over the Sabra area.

In the morning of 18 September, all of west Beirut was under IDF control. The presence of Kataeb units was again observed in Bir Hassan in the vicinity of Sabra camp, as well as an estimated at least 1,000 Kataeb soldiers with tanks and vehicles in the airport area.

Two teams of OGB observers reached the Sabra camp at 0830 hours GMT and found many clusters of bodies of men, women and children in civilian clothes who appeared to have been massacred in groups of 10 or 20. The Sabra camp is dominated by two IDF positions situated 200 and 500 metres, respectively, west of the camp. According to information received from the Lebanese army, the units seen in the Bir Hassan, Sabra and airport areas were in fact Kataeb units mixed with Lebanese de facto forces coming from southern Lebanon.

As of 1800 hours GMT on 18 September, IDF was deployed in and around Beirut, controlling the city with mechanized troops on the main axes and road functions as well as with infantry patrols. No IDF withdrawals had been observed south or west of the approximate line of separation of forces indicated in the report of 15 September ( Sl15382lAdd. 1, para.4). The deployment of Lebanese army and internal security units also remained unchanged with some minor adjustments. Lebanese forces and Kataeb forces were manning checkpoints and were controlling traffic east and south of the proximate line of separation. However, the forces that had been observed in the airport area during the morning were no longer there at 1800 hours GMT. No local armed elements (LNM, AMAL, Mourabitoun) were observed west or north of the approximate line of separation of forces.

20 OCTOBER 1982
The Israeli occupation authorities imposed a curfew on the Palestinian city of Hebron on Wednesday evening, 20 October 1982. The imposition of collective punishment on the population of the city follows in the aftermath of an incident involving an Israeli soldier in the old quarter of Hebron. The Israeli soldier had been roaming through the alley-ways and was reaching for his gun, when he was restrained by a Palestinian youth. Israeli troops rushed to the scene and conducted a house-to-house search of the area.

Later, five Palestinian children were found when Zionist settlers attacked them with a hand grenade. The five children were rushed to hospital after the explosion. More hand grenades were found in a garbage can in the nearby Zionist settlement of Kiryat Arba.

20 OCTOBER 1982
Issam Abu Musalem, a 15-year-old Palestinian from Balata refugee camp on the southern outskirts of Nablus was shot dead by Israeli settlers. Another Palestinian was seriously injured. The bullets that killed Abu Musalem and injured the other Palestinian came from an Israeli vehicle of the Samarian Regional Council as it drove through Nablus. The Israeli military command imposed a curfew on the Palestinian refugee camp after the shooting, and two schools in Nablus were ordered closed for a week.

16 MARCH 1983
In Yatta, on 16 March, it was reported that Israeli settlers were continuing to terrorize the population in the occupied territories. Booby-trap bombs were discovered at the gate of the Haifa High School in the town of Jenin which were fortunately discovered and detonated.

17 MARCH 1983
On 17 March, Israeli occupation troops opened fire on Palestinian anti-occupation demonstrators in Beit Sahour. One school was ordered closed until further notice, bringing the number of schools in the Bethlehem area closed by the Israeli occupation to five.

25 JUNE 1983
On Sunday 25 June 1983 Palestinians detained in the Ramallah Central Prison demonstrated against the inhuman conditions in which they are being held. Israeli prison guards attacked the demonstrators with clubs and tear-gas grenades. Two prisoners were seriously injured. Prisoners have appealed to the International Red Cross to investigate Israeli practices against them.

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