Issue Date: June 11, 1982 Israeli Troops Invade Southern Lebanon, Crush PLO Bases; Tentative Cease-Fire Agreed After Major Israeli Gains PRINT EMAIL SAVE TEXT Shooting of Envoy Triggers Action Israeli Envoy Attacked in London Air Strikes Provoke Shelling Invasion Launched U.N. Demands Cease-Fire, Pullout Israel Claims Limited Goals Lebanon Interrupts Versailles Summit U.S. Makes Measured Response Other Reactions Palestinian Bastions Fall Syrian Missile Bases Destroyed Beirut Menaced Tentative Cease-Fire Set Shooting of Envoy Triggers Action The Israeli army invaded Lebanon June 6 in a coordinated land, sea and air attack aimed initially at crushing strongholds of the Palestine Liberation Organization. [See 1982 Other World News: Lebanon: Troops Mass Along Border] By June 10 Israeli troops had swept to the outskirts of Beirut and were exchanging fire with concentrations of the 25,000-strong Syrian peacekeeping force in central Lebanon. The air battles over central Lebanon were described as among the heaviest in the history of jet aviation. The next day, after urgent diplomatic pressure from the U.S., Israel and Syria agreed to a truce. The cease-fire left much of coastal Lebanon from Beirut south devastated and under Israeli control; Syria still held its stronghold in the Bekaa valley. Many PLO encampments had been obliterated and Palestinian forces were left in disarray. An Israeli military push into Lebanon had long been threatened, and the invasion was preceded by two rounds of air raids by Israeli jets in April and May. [See 1982 Israeli Jets Again Raid Palestinians in Lebanon; PLO Retaliates with Heavy Shelling, 1982 Lebanon: U.N. to Expand Forces] The immediate trigger was an assassination attempt on the Israeli ambassador in London June 3, which left him in critical condition. Although there was some doubt whether the PLO had ordered the attack, Israel immediately launched a new round of air raids on southern Lebanon, to which Palestinian forces responded with heavy shelling of northern Israel. A U.N. call for a cease-fire June 5 was rejected, and Israeli troops the next morning swept north with the objective of eradicating the PLO from southern Lebanon. Israeli Envoy Attacked in London Shlomo Argov, the Israeli ambassador to Great Britain, was critically wounded in a shooting attack late June 3 as he was leaving a party in London. The attack, although disclaimed by the Palestine Liberation Organization, was cited by Israel as a factor in the decision to invade Lebanon. Argov was rushed to a hospital with head wounds. Early June 4 he underwent an operation in which damaged parts of his brain, bone fragments and a blood clot were removed. A medical spokesman emphasized that Argov remained in a critical condition following the operation. The Israeli ambassador was shot as he was leaving the Dorchester Hotel after a party. A London policeman assigned to protect Argov chased a suspected assailant and shot him. The suspect, who carried a Jordanian passport, was taken to a hospital with a head wound but was expected to live. Three more suspects were arrested not long after the shooting. Two of these--one holding a Jordanian passport, and the other Iraqi papers-- were detained while driving through southern London. The third, carrying a Syrian passport, was arrested in Weybridge, Surrey. A series of police raids early June 4 succeeded in seizing a number of weapons. "We deplore this cruel crime," a policeman spokesman said, "but we believe we have frustrated a series of terrorist outrages." The PLO representative in London, Nabil Ramlawi, denied June 4 that his organization was responsible for the attack. The attempted assassination would serve Israeli rather than Palestinian interests, Ramlawi said, adding," "The Israeli ambassador is a victim of a determined campaign now being waged in European capitals to discredit the PLO and to undermine the understanding and friendship which exists between the Palestinians and the EEC [European Community] governments." Ramlawi continued, "It will also be used by the Begin regime to justify further murderous air and land attacks on Palestinian refugee camps in the Lebanon, and to suppress our families in the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip. Our war is in Palestine against the Zionists, not in Europe." Yacov Keinan, press spokesman for the Israeli Embassy in London, said June 4 that the ambassador was "yet another victim of this totally barbaric, cowardly code of behavior which seems to direct the life and acts of continuing Arab terrorism." The Israeli ambassador to the U.S. Moshe Arens, more directly imputed responsibility for the attack to the PLO. Speaking to reporters June 7, Arens said, "We know enough about the PLO, its tactics and methods, to feel assured this was an act of the PLO, even though they won't take credit. It is a well-known PLO tactic to come up with new names ... but they are all one of the same Mafia-type octopus that works out of Lebanon." British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and other British officials voiced dismay over the attack and expressed sympathy to Israel. However, they did not share Israel's assumption that the PLO was necessarily responsible. Thatcher said June 6 that a "hit list" had been found on the suspects that included the name of the PLO representative in London. This was generally interpreted as meaning that the attack had been carried out by a small faction without widespread Palestinian support. Keinan, however, rejected this interpretation. "We do not accept the idea that this attack was carried out by a breakaway group of the Palestine Liberation Organization," the Israeli press officer said. He continued, "There is no such thing as a good and bad PLO." A statement received by the Associated Press in Beirut June 9 claimed responsibility for the attack on behalf of a breakaway Palestinian group that had for several years been at odds with Yasir Arafat, the head of the PLO. The statement was signed Al Asifa, a name used previously by followers of Abu Nidal, who was thought to be responsible for a number of terrorist actions apparently intended to discredit or damage the PLO. [See 1981 Arab Summit Breaks Down Over Saudi Peace Plan; Boycotted Meeting Collapses] Air Strikes Provoke Shelling In retaliation for the Argov shooting, Israel June 4 launched massive air strikes against Palestinian targets in Beirut and southern Lebanon. Israeli jets bombed Palestinian camps in the Beirut area steadily for two hours. The Lebanese government said at least 45 people were killed, and 150 wounded, in the attacks. A spokesman for the Syrian peacekeeping forces said eight Syrians were among the casualties. As had happened after the Israeli raids in May, Palestinian forces in southern Lebanon responded with heavy rocket and artillery fire into northern Israel, driving Israeli citizens into bomb shelters and causing heavy damage to homes and public buildings. Towns all across the northern frontier, from the Galilee region in the east to Nahariya on the Mediterranean coast, were hit. The Palestinians also shelled Christian militia emplacements along the Lebanese border. The Palestinian artillery barrage continued throughout the night and the next day, and Israeli planes resumed their bombing runs at daybreak, augmented by naval bombardment of coastal positions. At least one Israeli fighter was shot down and its pilot captured, reportedly the first Israeli pilot ever shot down by the Palestinians. Invasion Launched Massive armored columns of Israeli troops swept past United Nations observation posts the morning of June 6 in a three-pronged assault. One column pushed directly northward along the coastal road. Inland, similar thrusts from the Galilee region of northern Israel and from the Golan Heights pushed toward Palestinian emplacements in the hills of southern Lebanon. The ease with which the Israelis had rolled through the U.N.- controlled demilitarized zones provoked the wrath of PLO leader Yasir Arafat, who June 8 accused the U.N. forces of "collaborating with the Israeli troops," helping them "stab the Palestinians in the back." U.N. officials maintained that their forces had used a variety of nonviolent tactics to impede the Israeli advance, but to no avail. By day's end June 6, the Lebanese government was reporting that the Israelis had attacked Sidon, nearly 30 miles (45 kilometers) up the coast, where the PLO had a regional command center. According to the Lebanese, one contingent of Israelis had descended on the city from the north after landing troops and tanks on the coast. Israel would not reveal how many troops took part in the invasion, but Syrian and Palestinian estimates ranged from 25,000 to 40,000. U.N. Demands Cease-Fire, Pullout The United Nations Security Council June 6 unanimously demanded that Israel pull its forces out of Lebanon. Israel rejected the demand, as it had a June 5 demand for an immediate cease-fire on the eve of the invasion. After a day of closed-door negotiations, the council approved a resolution demanding "that Israel withdraw all its forces forthwith and unconditionally to the internationally recognized boundaries of Lebanon." It reiterated the previous day's call for an immediate cessation of all military actions across the Lebanese border. Israel's U.N. ambassador, Yehuda Blum, reacted with derision, accusing the council of ignoring scores of terrorist acts by Palestinians. "The council is galvanized into action when Israel finally resorts to its right of self-defense," he said, and was acting