On 2 June 1982 the Israeli Ambassador to the Court of St. James was shot in the head by terrorists belonging to the Black June group as he left an official dinner at the London Dorchester hotel. The June group was headed by Sabri El Bana, known as Abu Nidal, which specialized in attacking Jews and Israelis outside Israel. An emergency cabinet meeting was held in Jerusalem on Friday 3 June. The Prime Minister proclaimed that an attack on an ambassador was tantamount to an attack on the state and called for retaliation. The previous night Mr. Begin had authorized an air strike on selected targets in Beirut. The air raid started at 15:15 and Israeli planes bombed P.L.0. ammunition depots located in the Beirut stadium. As anticipated, two hours later, the P.L.O. opened fire on the Galilee. The Ministers were called to a meeting at the home of the Prime Minister the next evening. Following is a background summary of events which took place on Friday and Saturday, 4 and 5 June, as provided by Israeli military sources:
Background Summary of Events of Friday (4.6.82) and Saturday (5.6.82)
On Friday, 4.6.82, following the assassination attempt on the Israeli Ambassador in London, the Air Force attacked two central terrorist targets in Lebanon. From 17:20 hours the terrorists began shelling the northern settlements along the border. The shelling was carried out at various intervals in rounds of 7-5-10 shells. At about 01:00 hours a round of 40 Katyusha rockets was fired at the Galilee panhandle. The fire stopped at about 02:25 hours. The fire came from all varieties of Katyusha rocket launchers, 130 mm artillery and tanks. A total of 300 shells fell on Friday in the region of northern Israel and the Christian salient. In response to the shelling, I.D.F. forces returned fire to the sources of the shelling and avoided firing at populated areas.
The targets attacked in the Beirut area were: A. A terrorist training camp at Buri-El-Barajna. B. A sports stadium at the sports complex, which the terrorists had appropriated for their use, despite its location in a civilian area (See I.D.F. spokesman announcement of 4.6.92).
In Friday's shelling in the north one Israeli was killed and two lightly wounded.
The air force hits were reported as very precise.
On Saturday, 5.6.82, at about 09:00 hours, the terrorists renewed fire at their initiative at the Galilee panhandle and the western sector. The shooting included Katyusha rockets, artillery and tank shells. Terrorists hits were identified in large civilian population centers as well. At the same time there was shooting at the Haddad salient.
In response, air force planes were dispatched this morning to attack three types of targets: A. Terrorist bases; B. Terrorist targets in the field; C. Sources of the shelling.
The targets included: 1. A number of targets in the Damour region, including a terrorist base, a tank depot in which a number of tanks were hit, ammunition depots dug into tunnels. 2. In the Zaharani Delta Region 130 mm gun emplacements were attacked (The guns can reach the Galilee panhandle and western Galilee settlements), as well as bunkers and underground ammunition stores. 3. Targets in the Nabatiyeh Heights region, which included dug-in emplacments from which mortar and heavy machine gun fire was directed at the Galilee panhandle. 130 mm and 100 mm gun emplacements and 85 mm mortar emplacements were also attacked.
Terrorist fire continued till the time of this report (21.00). I.D.F. forces returned artillery fire during the day at the sources of the shooting.
A total of 200 shells were fired today at Israel and the Haddad salient. During the terrorist shellings today and this evenings a total of 8 persons were injured.