The assassination occurred in a Palestinian district at the southern edge of Sidon and was followed by clashes among Palestinian factions, the police said.

The killing was attributed to a power struggle for control of Palestinian districts in Lebanon.

Palestinian districts in the Amal-controlled port of Tyre in the south suffered in the same way.

Ambulances entered the beleaguered Palestinian district of Shatila today and removed 23 seriously wounded residents.

Since late June, for the most part, the soldiers have stayed out of Palestinian districts.

The fundamentalist Party of God does not appear to have played a role either in the recent street fighting or in the siege of the Palestinian districts.

Israeli gunners responded with what police officials here described as blanket bombardment of targets in Palestinian districts and many Lebanese villages in a 100-square-mile area.

Farther south along the spiny, dark road, the velvet blue of evening silhouettes a rooftop gathering of troops looking down into another restless Palestinian district.

The troops set up a base at the Beirut airport, which is in the vicinity of the two Palestinian districts.

Accounts from Palestinian districts indicate the policy has in fact been in effect for more than a week.