Israelis Raid Lebanese Guerrilla Base, Battle Palestinians 9 Hours

NAAME, Lebanon â€”  In their deepest incursion into Lebanon in five years, Israeli troops battled Palestinian guerrillas for nine hours today after landing in this coastal town to raid a guerrilla base. Israeli helicopters rescued four surrounded soldiers, Israeli officials said.

One Israeli soldier was killed and three were wounded in the battle, which involved air, naval and ground forces, Lebanese and Israeli officials said. Israel’s chief of staff said at least 20 guerrillas were killed and dozens were wounded.

Lebanese police said eight pro-Syrian guerrillas were killed and 16 were wounded. Israel did not say why it launched the raid.

Different Viewpoint

The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command, the target of the attack, said that only two of its fighters were killed and called the raid a failure. It claimed in a communique that it was holding 17 Israelis, but Israel said all its men were rescued.

Speaking on Israel army radio, Israel’s chief of staff, Lt. Gen. Dan Shomron, denied reports from Lebanon that Israeli troops exchanged gunfire with Syrian forces stationed along the Lebanese coast. The last major battles between Syrian and Israeli troops occurred in June, 1982.

According to an Israeli army spokesman, troops launched the raid by sea at about 9 p.m. Thursday. They broke into smaller units and attacked different targets.

Marched Inland

Army officials said the commandos had to march inland from the Mediterranean coast near Naame, nine miles south of Beirut and 16 miles north of Sidon.

But Israeli military sources said the force encountered unexpected obstacles and bogged down. As daylight approached, the main force was separated from four soldiers who were cut off and pinned down by guerrilla fire.

The main force was evacuated, but helicopters were sent in to rescue the trapped Israelis.

Lebanese police said Palestinian guerrillas ambushed an Israeli force of about 50 paratroopers who landed helicopters in a ravine at 2:10 a.m., and militiamen of Druze warlord Walid Jumblatt’s Progressive Socialist Party joined the battle.

Israeli warplanes then thundered in from the Mediterranean, blasting guerrilla posts above Naame in at least 20 sorties, the police said. The Israeli military said an unspecified number of guerrilla command posts and other targets were destroyed.

Missiles Launched

Guerrillas fired shoulder-fired SAM-7 missiles at the raiding jets, but no hits were scored, police said.

Israel radio quoted Lebanese sources as saying that Syrian forces opened fire on Israeli troops as they landed on the coast but stopped firing once the force was fully ashore.

Israeli gunboats cruised offshore from Naame and five helicopter gunships hovered overhead, apparently waiting to evacuate the paratroopers, the police spokesman said.

Palestinian guerrillas and the leftist Lebanese militiamen were seen firing at the helicopters from jeep-mounted anti-aircraft guns along Naame’s beach.

It was Israel’s 24th air raid on Lebanon this year.

At least 119 people were killed and 333 wounded in Israel’s 23 previous air raids on Lebanon since Jan. 3.