Israelis attack by land, sea and air

Israeli forces yesterday battered Palestinian guerrilla bases in southern Lebanon from land, sea and air in a "search and destroy" operation across a broad front from the Mediterranean to the foothills of Mount Hermon.

United Nations sources in Jerusalem said last night that columns of tanks and self-propelled artillery were thrusting at three Palestinian strongholds: the port city of Tyre in the west, the market town of Nabatiyeh in the centre and the 12th century Beaufort Castle to the east.

Fighting was reported from the streets of Tyre and from the approaches to Sidon further north.

Reports on Damascus television said that Israeli and Syrian forces had exchanged artillery fire in the Lebanon. If true, this would be a serious escalation of the conflict, but four hours after the reports, the Israelis insisted that there had been no such exchanges.

Commando units were landed by sea and helicopter while Israeli planes continued bombing key guerrilla positions. The army spokesman in Tel Aviv admitted that Israel had lost one Skyhawk light attack bomber during an air strike on the Nabatiyeh Heights, and a combat helicopter.

This is the first time that Israel has announced air force losses over Lebanon for at least eight years.

The Skyhawk pilot was taken prisoner and the helicopter's crew of two were listed as missing, but Palestinian reports said they had been killed.

A Cabinet communiqué issued yesterday defined the purpose of the invasion as "placing the civilian population of Galilee beyond the range of the terrorists' fire from Lebanon, where their bases and their headquarters are located".

In reply to a letter from President Regan to the Israeli Prime Minister, Mr Begin claimed last night that Israel was exercising its right of self-defence, which he compared with Britain's invasion of the Falklands. The director general of the Foreign Ministry, Mr David Kimeche, said in a radio interview that Israel had no territorial ambitions in Lebanon.

The decision to send in the army was taken at an emergency Cabinet meeting on Saturday night in the middle of northern Israel's heaviest artillery and rocket bombardment since last July's war of attrition.

At least 23 towns and villages were hit in a barrage of nearly 1,000 shells and Katyushas, causing serious damage to property and sending the inhabitants scurrying into the shelters. The onslaught was continuing last night.

If the Cabinet's objective is taken at face value, Israel would have to push the Palestinians back behind the Zaharani River.

Mr Begin spoke in his message to President Regan of "pushing the terrorists 40km to the north". An army spokesman said later that the 40km distance was from the Israeli-Lebanese border.

The unanswered questions are how Mr Begin plans to keep them there - with a permanent Israeli garrison or by persuading the UN to extend its peace force's mandate - and what future he sees for the large Palestinian refugee populations living in Tyre, the nearby Rashadiyeh camp, and Nabatiyeh.

One of Mr Begin's senior colleagues, Mr Ya'acov Meridor visited the northern settlements last night and assured residents they would be out of the shelters within 48 hours. Israel is, nonetheless, preparing for possible heavy casualties. The Rambam Hospital in Haifa, the biggest in the north, sent home as many patients as possible yesterday to make beds available.

Much of the pressure to act has come from the north, where people complained that they could not take the tension any longer. They have not forgotten that Mr Begin promised during last year's general election that " the last Katyusha" would have fallen on Kiryat Shmona.

Dr Noha Segal, of the town's public health centre, said yesterday: "I have never seen so many people with psychological problems, especially the children - children who are afraid to leave home, children who live in constant fear, children who have learned to hate."

The Cabinet was anxious to limit the scope of the operation, which has been code named "Peace for Galilee." It specified that "the Syrian army will not be attacked unless they attack our forces." Israel would continue to seek a peace treaty with independent Lebanon preserving in territorial integrity.

Israel's contention that the ceasefire, contrived 10 months ago by the American diplomat Mr Phillip Habib, could not be one sided has been festering since the beginning of this year. The military spokesman said last night that there had been 26 terrorist strikes or attempted strikes at Israeli targets in the past few months alone. "Over the past few months there have been hundreds of such actions," he added. "They include the laying of landmines within Israeli territory, Katyusha rockets launched at kibbutzim and resort towns, explosives placed in large cities, attacks on tourists, the murder of an Israeli diplomat in Paris, and last week's attempted assassination of Ambassador Argov."

Israel, the spokesman maintained, had displayed maximum restraint but could no longer allow such threats to its citizens to pass without military response. He emphasised the invading force would take "meticulous care" not to harm the civilian population.

It remains to be seen whether the Israelis can control this invasion any more effectively than their last big push into Lebanon in 1978.