ISRAEL SHELLS CIVILIAN AREAS OF LEBANON.

Byline: Douglas Jehl N.Y. Times News Service

Israel shelled civilian areas of southern Lebanon on Sunday for the first time since fighting between its forces and Hezbollah guerrillas ended three weeks ago.

Syria, the major power-broker in Lebanon, immediately accused Israel of violating the American-backed cease-fire agreement.

The shelling was in retaliation for a morning attack by Hezbollah guerrillas on targets inside Israel's so-called ``security zone'' in southern Lebanon. Two guerrillas were killed and one Israeli soldier was wounded in that clash, the latest inside the zone in recent weeks. A Lebanese woman was hurt in the retaliatory barrage, the first civilian wounded since the cease-fire took hold.

The agreement, which took effect on April 27, does not prohibit guerrilla attacks on military targets on Lebanese territory occupied by Israel. But it does prohibit attacks from or at civilian areas on both sides of the border. Syria, which maintains 35,000 troops in Lebanon, labeled the Israeli attack an unambiguous violation of the accord.

``Israeli forces this morning violated the April understanding by shelling civilian Lebanese areas north of the occupied part of south Lebanon,'' the official Syrian news agency said in a report from Beirut.

An account given by Lebanese authorities said Israeli tanks fired several nonexplosive artillery shells into a cluster of three villages north of Israel's occupation zone after the clash inside the enclave. The shells contained no explosives, in what was apparently an attempt by Israel to minimize the danger of civilian casualties.

The Lebanese authorities said the wounded woman, from the village of Kfar Tibnit, was rushed to a hospital for surgery after one of the shells rebounded off a tree and landed on her foot.

The cease-fire, reached after intensive shuttle diplomacy by Secretary of State Warren Christopher, ended 16 days of fighting between Israel and guerrillas of Hezbollah, or Party of God, that included Katyusha rocket attacks on northern Israel and intensive Israeli bombardment of Lebanese targets as far north as Beirut.