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CNN Live Today

Israeli Soldiers Rounding Up Palestinian Men

Aired March 11, 2002 - 14:20   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.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: There are contradictory developments today in the Israeli-Palestinian crisis. Even as leaders from both sides met to talk about the violence that has killed more than 100 people in the last week alone, Israel now rounding up hundreds of Palestinian men. Ben Wedeman now in the West Bank.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Israeli soldiers bring in men suspected of involvement in attacks on Israelis, part of Ariel Sharon's unrelenting offensive against the Palestinians.

A jeep drives through the West Bank village of Artas, ordering all males between the ages of 15 and 45 to gather outside the village. Those who resisted, they said, would have their houses blown up. Villagers say they had no choice but to give up.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's not like a surrender, you know. They have a force. We have nothing, so we have to obey their orders.

WEDEMAN: Gunfire echoes from Israeli armored vehicles overlooking Artas. On the edge of nearby Dheishah Refugee Camp, hundreds quietly wait their turn to have their hands bound, putting up no resistance.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We can't -- I can't attack them by my nails. I have nothing to attack them.

WEDEMAN: They were not given any food or water while standing in the hot sun. Prayer, however, was allowed.

The heat, and possibly the fear, take a toll. This man, a diabetic, fainted. An Israeli army medic and Palestinian ambulance drivers work together to revive him.

(on camera): Israel's ability into re-enter towns and villages previously under full Palestinian control to round up, detain and question hundreds, if not thousands, of Palestinians brings this region full circle, back to the days before the peace process began.

(voice-over): Israeli officials say they are simply doing what the Palestinian Authority couldn't or wouldn't do: Finding and arresting militants suspected of carrying out attacks against Israel. But, camp residents say the men Israel is looking for fled long ago to nearby towns, into the rocky hills and remote valleys leaving behind those who say they have done nothing wrong and have nothing to hide.

Ben Wedeman, CNN, Dheishah Refugee Camp on the West Bank.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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