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American Morning

Israel Strikes in Response to Attack by Palestinian Gunman on Israeli Girl's Bat Mitzvah

Aired January 18, 2002 - 07:36   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: Another round of violence in the Middle East to talk about today. Early this morning, Israeli F-16s fired missiles at the compound of the Palestinian governor of Tulkarem in the West Bank, killing one, injuring 50. Now, these strikes were in response to an attack by a Palestinian gunman on a young Israeli girl's bat mitzvah in Hadera on Thursday that left six dead and 30 injured.

CNN's Jerusalem bureau chief Mike Hanna joins us now with the very latest on this story -- good morning, Mike.

MIKE HANNA, CNN JERUSALEM BUREAU CHIEF: Hello there, Paula. Well, hundreds of guests were at that bat mitzvah celebration in the Israeli city of Hadera. A Palestinian gunman burst into the room opening fire with an assault rifle, wounding more than 20 Israelis, killing six. The gunman himself was shot by a police officer and a civil action volunteer during the attack.

Now, although on the face of it, responsibility is clear. The man who carried out the attack is identified as Abud Hassouneh. He is a member of the Al Aqsa Brigades. Now, Al Aqsa Brigades is an offshoot of Yasser Arafat's Fatah movement. The Palestinian Authority and Arafat have condemned this latest terror attack, but Israel says that ultimately it's Yasser Arafat who is responsible for these ongoing attacks, saying that he is just not doing enough to clamp down on the activities of Palestinian militants, not doing enough to stop them from planning and carrying out such attacks against Israeli civilians.

And there has been retaliation against Palestinian targets in West Bank cities, and in particular, tanks have now encircled Arafat's offices in the West Bank city of Ramallah, a clear signal from Israel that it holds Arafat responsible for these attacks against Israelis, and it will continue to keep him virtual prisoner in his offices in Ramallah until he is seen to crack down on militant action -- Paula.

ZAHN: Mike, you made it quite clear from this report this morning that the blame game goes on. It's a pattern we have seen repeated a lot over the last six months. What is the consensus there that you can break this most recent cycle of violence?

HANNA: Well, there is no agreement about how you break the cycle of violence either, just like there is disagreement about every single facet of life involving Israelis and Palestinians. The Palestinians are now saying there must be immediate U.S. intervention, saying that while these apportionments of blame go on, there has to be a mediator in place who will actually apportion blame where necessary. The Palestinians say, send back U.S. envoy Anthony Zinni as soon as possible to attempt to get this cease-fire in place on the ground. The Israelis say, no, what they must be doing is that the Palestinian Authority must take action against the militants. That is something that can clearly be seen to be done.

The U.S. itself, meanwhile, has postponed what had been Zinni's scheduled return to the region this week, waiting to see what happens. One of Zinni's previous visits erupted into complete violence. It was, in effect, a waste of time, and clearly the U.S. and Zinni do not see any point whatsoever in returning to the region while violence is at its height. So it appears to be a no-win situation from all sides -- Paula.

ZAHN: All right. Mike Hanna -- appreciate that report. We will continue to check in with you throughout the day.

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