Israel Aids Allied Militia in Lebanon Raid

In the second assault this month against pro-Iranian guerrillas, Israeli jets, helicopter gunships and artillery hammered guerrilla strongholds inside Lebanon on Wednesday to support an attack by allied Lebanese militiamen.

Guerrillas of the Muslim fundamentalist Hezbollah (Party of God) faction were attacked in three Lebanese villages by tank-led troops of the Israeli-backed South Lebanon Army. Reports from Beirut indicated that 45 guerrillas had been killed or wounded.

Military spokesmen said no Israeli infantry was taking part in the attack. Israeli fire, they said, came from the air and from armor and artillery within the so-called security zone that Israel controls along the Lebanese side of the border.

Invaded Same Zone

Lt. Gen. Dan Shomrom, the Israeli army chief of staff, told newsmen that the Hezbollah had created several strong points just beyond the zone “for attacks into the zone and against Israel.” The fighting took place in the same area that Israel invaded May 4, about 30 miles south of Beirut. The earlier incursion lasted for two days and left 40 guerrillas and three Israeli soldiers dead.

Israeli officials say guerrilla pressure and attempts at infiltration across the border are calculated gestures of Arab support for the Palestinian unrest that has been going on since December in the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip.

Troops shot and killed a 45-year-old Arab protester in Gaza late Tuesday, and at least two other persons were wounded in sporadic clashes during a general strike, the latest in a series, that paralyzed the territories Wednesday.

Curfew Reimposed

A curfew was reimposed on at least four refugee camps and villages in Gaza, and in the largest camp on the West Bank, after protests to commemorate the assassination last month in Tunisia of the Palestinian military leader Khalil Wazir, also known as Abu Jihad. The Arab world accuses Israel of being responsible for the killing.

Shomrom, whose meeting with reporters had been scheduled in advance, defended the performance of troops who have clashed with demonstrators in the occupied territories almost daily since December. He said “several tens” of soldiers had been been punished for excessive use of force and other abuses since the unrest began.

Villages Abandoned

Reports from Beirut on Wednesday night said that 400 to 600 troops of the mostly Christian South Lebanon Army attacked three villages about a mile outside the zone after the Israeli bombardment. Hezbollah had ordered its guerrillas to abandon the town of Louaize and two nearby villages and to disperse into the surrounding countryside, the reports said.

“Our (holy fighters) are dealing with the sources of fire,” Hezbollah said in a statement issued in Beirut.

Shomrom said that Israeli policy is to strike first at guerrillas preparing to launch attacks from Lebanon.

Wednesday’s assault carried “some threat of escalation,” Shomrom acknowledged and added, “We attack only those who threaten us directly, and in this case, Hezbollah does provide a direct threat.”

In the past four months, at least five Israeli soldiers and 17 guerrillas have been killed during attempts by guerrillas to infiltrate into Israel. Last November, a lone guerrilla flew a hang glider into Israel and killed six soldiers at an army base before he was killed.