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While Lebanon's leaders were struggling to settle the political crisis that followed Gemayel's death, the Israelis were busy taking over West Beirut, a goal long desired by Israeli Defense Minister Sharon but denied him by the peace talks led by U.S. Special Envoy Habib. The local Muslim population was alarmed at the Israeli advance: most of the Palestinian guerrillas were gone, and the French, Italian and American peace-keeping forces had also departed. Just before an Israeli column reached the U.S. embassy in West Beirut, the Israeli troops were ordered by radio to avoid shooting at the embassy building "at all cost." Later, however, an Israeli officer took a shot at a U.S. Marine standing guard atop the embassy. The bullet missed, but by merely 2 ft. The Israelis later apologized, saying the officer thought the Marine was a leftist militiaman.
More serious was an Israeli intrusion into the compound of the Soviet embassy in West Beirut. According to a Soviet diplomat, several Israelis entered the compound Wednesday evening, demanding to know if there were any terrorists inside. Said the Soviet diplomat: "We told them this is an embassy; we have diplomats here, not terrorists." He said the Israelis left Friday, after Western reporters arrived to question their presence. "They were afraid of journalists," the Soviet official added. An Israeli military spokesman claimed that several Israeli soldiers had simply taken cover behind the wall surrounding the embassy compound. But independent sources said that for two days the Israelis had occupied the consulate, a school and a building used for lodging employees. The Israelis apparently were searching for Lebanese Communist lead ers who they suspected might have sought refuge in the embassy.
To justify their move into West Beirut, the Israelis said it was necessary, after Gemayel's death, to prevent bloodshed. The Israeli Cabinet also claimed that 2,000 P.L.O. fighters had remained in the city in "blatant violation of the departure agreement." Declared Begin: "The terrorists cheated us. Not all of them got out. They deceived Philip Habib too. They left behind a considerable number of terrorists, together with their arms."
The Israeli takeover of West Beirut shocked and angered the Reagan Administration; the massacre appalled it. From the beginning, Washington had regarded the Israeli move as unnecessary and potentially dangerous. The news of the wholesale killing of Palestinian civilians reinforced the view that the Israelis must get out of Beirut, and the sooner the better.