Israeli Leaflets Warn Lebanese in Sidon

Israeli warplanes on Friday dropped thousands of Arabic-language leaflets on Sidon, southern Lebanon’s largest city, warning residents that “misery and destruction” will follow if they cooperate with the Palestinian guerrillas that Israel says are regrouping in the area.

The military command here confirmed local reports of the warning, which came just two days after Israeli planes attacked what were called terrorist bases on the fringe of two Palestinian refugee camps near Sidon.

According to a translation provided by an Israeli military spokesman, the leaflet refers to the air attack as “another reminder that Israel will not tolerate any hostile activity which will use south Lebanon as a base of anti-Israeli attack.”

Warning on Cooperation

“Any cooperation with Palestinian terrorist organizations will bring misery and destruction down on your homes,” it says.

The military spokesman said that Israel has become concerned over a build-up of Palestinian fighters in southern Lebanon. He said that as many as 3,000 Palestinians, mostly from Beirut and other areas to the north, have moved south in the past several months.

He added that there is no evidence of any significant involvement by these newcomers in attacks either across the border into Israel or in the Israeli security zone that extends six to 10 miles north from the Israeli-Lebanese frontier.

He said Israel is trying to head off potential trouble.

Hoping It Will Help

“Maybe it will help,” he said of Friday’s action. “Maybe not. We hope it will.”

An independent military source in southern Lebanon said that Israel is exaggerating the situation, and added, “When they say buildup , they’re confusing the whole issue.”

Thousands of Palestinians stayed on in the refugee camps of southern Lebanon even after Israeli troops invaded Lebanon in June, 1982, he said, and remained there through the three years of Israeli military occupation.

This source added that some Palestinians may be involved in recent attacks in the security zone and in northern Israel, but he said these have been mounted to the east, near the Lebanese border with Syria. He said there is no evidence of Palestinian guerrilla activity in the western sector, south of Sidon.

Palestinians Opposed

Israeli and independent sources say that Shia Muslims, who make up the overwhelming majority in south Lebanon, have actively opposed the return of Palestinian fighters into the region. The Shias are anxious to prevent a return to the situation that existed before 1982, when the Palestine Liberation Organization had what amounted to a state within a state in southern Lebanon, victimizing the Lebanese as well as terrorizing northern Israeli settlements.

Sidon has a mixed population of about 120,000, with Sunni Muslims in the majority.

Last Wednesday’s rocket attack against what Israel said were command posts of three hard-line Palestinian factions on the outskirts of Sidon were the first in the area since the 1982 invasion.

Last year, Israeli warplanes carried out a dozen raids, mostly in the Bekaa Valley of eastern Lebanon, but late in the year Syria moved anti-aircraft missiles closer to the border to discourage such Israeli action. Wednesday’s raid was outside the range of the Syrian missiles.

Most Want Peace

“We know that the majority of residents of south Lebanon wish to live in peace and security,” the Israeli leaflet said. “This is basically in the interests of people living on both sides of the border.”

The leaflet cautions, however, that “the Palestinian terrorist intention to infiltrate into south Lebanon will bring about hard and painful Israeli retaliation against them and against those who aid or support them.” The leaflet says that, “to Israel’s regret,” innocent inhabitants will also suffer.

“It is not too late to prevent this cooperation of an extremist minority among you with the terrorist organizations,” the leaflet says. “For the sake of peace and security, may Allah guide you and your leaders in choosing the right way.”

The leaflet carries an Israel Defense Forces emblem and is signed by the commander of Israel’s northern army group, Maj. Gen. Ori Orr.