Palestinian guerrillas fighting for life in Lebanese confrontation

Press, 21 August 1976, Page 6

Palestinian guerrillas fighting for life in Lebanese confrontation

By ISHAN HIJAZI, of the New York Times News Service, through NZPA i Beirut ; After 16 months of fighting in the civil war in' 1 Lebanon and two and a half I, months of confrontation!; with Syria, the Palestinian! guerrilla movement is' l

fighting for survival. The fall of the refugee; camp of Tel Al-Zaatar, [ [which had been a symbol of; the Palestinians' determina ! tion to hold on to what they! gained in this country, has! reinforced their belief that 1 , the main object of the; fighting has been the des-| truction of the guerrilla; movement. The Right-wing ! Christians agree, contending! that the war in Lebanon is! not between Rightist and; Leftist Lebanese but between; the Lebanese and the Pales-j tinians.

The biggest threat to the Palestinians, however, is not! so much the strength of the; Rightists, but Syria, once; the most important suppor-| ter and supplier of the; Palestinians.

Before June, when Syria! started pouring 20,000 men [ and 450 tanks into Lebanon,: the Palestinians and their! Lebanese Leftist and Moslem allies held the military in- ! itiative in the civil war in Lebanon.

Now the situation has been reversed. The fall of! Tel Al-Zaatar climaxed a! [series of Right-wing military [successes and Rightists are; (threatening an offensive;

against Palestinian and Moslem Leftist positions in the mountains east of Beirut. In the east. Syrian troops are in complete control of the Bekaa Plains and their forces have advanced to Sofar, 21km east of Beirut [on the main Beirut-Dam-ascus highway. In the north, Palestinian camps at the northern approaches to the Moslem port of Tripoli are besieged by Syrian troops, while Tripoli itself is threatened by Rightist forces on the east and south. The Palestinians in southern Lebanon are squeezed between the Syrians and the Israelis, with Syrian troops in the Christian town of Jezzin in the hills, overlooking the southern coast, Israeli patrol boats have been inter-! cepting ships carrying supplies to the Moslem ports of Tyre and Saida. The total Palestinian fighting strength is now estimated at between 20,000 and 25,000 about the same as it was when the civil war began in the spring of 1975. The Palestinians admit, however, that they have suffered a large number of casualties and it is estimated that about half of the 25,000 reportedly killed in the civil war have been Palestinians, many of them fighting men. Although t’.i Palestinians have allies in Lebanese Leftists and Moslems, the Palestinians, who have been under arms for years constitute the maior strength in the alliance. The Leftist and Moslem militias began to

arm and train only in the last two years, and the total fighting strength of the Mos-lem-Leftist forces is believed to have reached only 3000 out of the total Palestinian Leftist fighting force of 28,000 men. The Palestinian forced which is mostly Palestinians who were in Lebanon before the outbreak of the war, in|eludes about 1500 Palestine ILiberation Army troops, who 'were stationed in Egypt I until late last year when: They joined the guerrilla: forces, and several hundred ; 'Arab volunteers who j reached Beirut from Iraq and Algeria. Besides the 20,000 Syrian! itroops who have entered the! I country, the Palestinians I I face about 25,000 Rightist | (Christians under arms The Palestinians have been: in Lebanon in substantial! numbers since they fled at j the founding of Israel in; 1948. but originally the main guerrilla bases were in Jordan. The guerrillas moved their base to Lebanon in 1970 and 1971 after King Hussein drove them from Jordan. After moving their bases, the guerrillas became an influential factor in Lebanon, often controlling areas of the countryside. But they Were dependent on supplies from Syria. The Syrian intervention has cut off the Palestinians from what was their best source of weapons, supplies, and trained men. Before (June, the so-called Arafat Trail stretching from DamI ascus through the guerrilla

bases in southern Lebanon was the lung that provided : breath for the Palestinian ! movement i The guerrillas had obtained the unrestricted use , ’ of the trail — unhindered by Lebanese author! ! ; — in the Cairo agreement coneluded in November of 1969 ■ after gaining the upper ■ hand, with Syrian help in : their first confrontation with , the small Lebanese Army Now Syria’s intervention •has closed that lifeline. The J official Syrian explanation for Hits intervention is that it is ( intended to apply the Cairo I agreement by forcing the! [guerillas to extricate them-; II selves from Lebanon’s in-i ijternal affairs and to abide by! nail the agreement’s provisions. Some of the provisions! [placed restrictions on the i[freedom of movement and the; [actions of guerillas outside ! their camps and bases, i; The Palestinians, however, [ i contend that Syria acted only' . after the Rightist Christians--1 failed in their goal of destroy-; 1 ing the guerilla movement,! ; Whatever the reasons for the! [ Syrian action, it has tipped! - the military balance in favour] > of the Rightist Christians and; -[threatened the survival of the; ; i Palestinian movement. -’! The conflict between Syria! ’ and the Palestinians did not! arise suddenly. The original'[gains that the Palestinians s; achieved in Lebanon were tlwith the help of the militant! .; regime that ruled in Damass cus before it was ousted by t President Assad in November, ■ 1970. Shortly after the coup nthe Assad regime placed re-

strictions on guerilla attacks from Syria whether they were aimed at Jordan or Israel. Syrian-Palestinian relations were further strained by the close co-operation that Assad eventually established with King Hussein of Jordan. Palestinian suspicions of Syria increased as relations between Damascus and Amman improved over the last year. Palestinian leaders say they felt Syria was seeking to help Hussein regain his position as a negotiator if any Middle East settlement involving the West Bank and J rdan River. [ Hussein gave up this role [in 1974 and joined in recog[nising the Palestine Liberlation Organisation as the sole [legitimate representative of : the West Bank Palestinians. Arab diplomats note that [ after the Egyptian and Syrian [disengagement agreements [with Israel in 1974 and 1975, | it became evident that partial [solutions were over and that [the time for an over-all settle[ment —if one was to be [reached —was at hand. And it [was evident that there would [have to be Palestinian parI ticipation in any such agree[ment. But Israel would not 'negotiate with the P.L.O. and (Washington would not recognise it as a party to negotiations. I Thus Palestinian leaders [[contend a “tame Palestinian [movement” was needed, and ■ Syria set about trying to tame ' the Palestinians through its [ military involvement in Leba- . non.