From: UPI
Subject: Lebanon ousts Palestinians from camp; Israelis said to fire on them
Reply-To: ayman@eecs.umich.edu
Organization: United Press International
Date: Mon, 21 Dec 1992 14:35:25 GMT
X-Note: This article was automatically cross-posted to soc.culture.lebanon

[ Article cross-posted without permission ]

	MARJ AL ZOUHOUR, Lebanon (UPI) -- Lebanon forced some 400 Palestinian
deportees out of their makeshift camp Monday, and witnesses and sources
said Israeli troops fired near the group as it approached an Israeli
checkpoint. Israel said its surrogate forces fired only tear gas at the
deportees.
	Witnesses said the Lebanese army ordered the deportees to leave their
camp situated between the Lebanese-controlled Marj Al Zouhour and the
Zimraya Gate manned by Israeli troops and their proxy South Lebanon Army
at the northern border of Israel's self-declared security zone in
southern Lebanon.
	The deportees left their tents, lined up on the road and began the
one-mile walk toward the Zimraya Gate where they were met by artillery
and machine-gun fire from the Israeli position, the witnesses said. Some
15 shells crashed on the road, the witnesses said.
	The witnesses reported an unspecified number of casualties among the
Palestinians. Lebanese forces in the area went on full alert and
Lebanese army ambulances and other Lebanese groups rushed to the Marj Al
Zouhour, the witnesses said.
	In Jerusalem, government spokesman Uri Dromi denied that either
Israeli or SLA forces had shelled the Palestinians. He said the SLA
fired tear gas to keep them from returning to the security zone. ``There
was no shooting, but there was use of some tear gas, which makes some
smoke and noise,'' Dromi said.
	After the Palestinians left the camp, the Lebanese army sealed off
the area to prevent their return. A Lebanese army source said the Beirut
government was trying to prevent an ``indefinite stay'' of the
deportees. ``We cannot bear them in this area for a long time,'' the
source said. ``We fear that their stay would become definite.''
	The Lebanese soldiers also prevented all relief workers from the Red
Cross and the United Nations Relief Workers and Aid for Palestinians
from approaching and contacting the deportees as they began their march
back toward the Israeli border.
	The army also halted all delivery of food into the area, and a
bulldozer that had begun digging makeshift latrines and kitchens was
removed, the witnesses said.
	``Only reporters and cameramen had the permission to enter the camp,''
the source said.
	The Palestinians were deported late Thursday from the Israeli-
occupied territories of the West Bank and Gaza. Handcuffed, blindfolded
and transported in buses and flatbed trucks, they arrived early Friday
at a desolate valley just north of the northern border of the Israel's
9-mile-wide security zone.
	Lebanon refused to admit the deportees, who were unceremoniously
dropped at the site in a driving rain. They were protected from the
elements only by rain coats, but humanitarian organizations quickly set
up a tent city for them.
	The move to return the deportees came after the Lebanese government
vowed again Sunday not to allow the Palestinians into the country. ``In
that way, they will remain a problem in the face of the Israelis and not
for us,'' Defense Minister Mohsen Dalloul said. He added the world
cannot stand idle ``and keep on watching their ordeal.''
	Lebanese Deputy Mohammed Kabbani warned Sunday that the Lebanese
authorities will never allow the Palestinians into ``our territories
even if they have to resort to force.'' And Former Prime Minister Amin
al-Hafez said he feared the deportation ``would be a prelude for
settling Palestinians in Lebanon.''
	The Palestinians are members of the fundamentalist organizations
Hamas and Islamic Jihad. They were deported in retaliation for the
kidnapping and murder of an Israeli border guard last week, the fifth
Israeli serviceman killed this month.

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