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CNN Live Today

Israeli Armor Enters Center of Ramallah

Aired March 13, 2002 - 11:09   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.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: We move overseas now. The largest Israeli military operation in 20 years is underway today in the West Bank and Gaza. Against that backdrop, President Bush's troubleshooter is on his way to the region.

Our Ben Wedeman joins us from Ramallah in the West Bank -- Ben, good to see you are staying inside, where it is safer in a very dangerous city right now.

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Daryn, that is correct. I have to tell you, though, we did go outside today. We went around quite a lot in the West Bank and we saw -- rather, in Ramallah, and we saw that there is still a good deal of fighting. What has happened since yesterday is, essentially, Israeli armored personnel carriers and tanks have moved much closer to the center of the city. In fact, they are in, more or less, in the center of the city.

We approached that area from behind, from the Palestinian side, where we saw dozens of Palestinian gunmen, most of them -- all of them, in fact, only armed with light machine guns. The Israelis are using armored personnel carriers and tanks. They are being provided with air cover by Apache attack helicopters. Really, the Israelis can essentially go wherever they want to go. They do run into a certain amount of resistance, but really by and large, they have freedom of movement in this city.

Now there was one very disturbing incident today, an Italian freelance journalist, Raffaele Ciriello, was killed in fighting near the center of the city. That is the first foreign journalist to be killed in the Palestinian uprising since it began in September of 2000.

Now, according to reports from the incident, he was shot five or six times in the abdomen and chest. Some sources saying that that fire came from an Israeli tank. Apparently, he was approaching those tanks, with a group of Palestinian gunmen when they opened fire, and, because of the situation, Palestinian ambulances were not able to reach him. He eventually got to the hospital with the help of some Palestinian youth, but by the time he got to the hospital, he was dead.

Now, another French -- a French journalist was also hit twice in the leg during fighting also, as well as an Egyptian journalist, who was hit by a bullet, but fortunately he was wearing a flak jacket at the time. So, it is a very difficult and dangerous situation here today, as well -- Daryn.

KAGAN: And then, Ben, I was watching ABC News last night and their crew came under fire by -- I think, an Israeli tank as well, and you actually see their camera was shot right into middle of the lens, and this was intentional -- but I think the Israeli military tried to say that they thought there was gunman in the hotel or something like that.

WEDEMAN: Well, actually, it wasn't just ABC, it was CNN's Joe Duran (ph) as well, one of our cameramen, who was right next to the ABC camera, and they were on the fourth floor of a hotel overlooking a refugee camp that was being entered by the Israelis, and they -- what happened was they saw this armored personnel carrier coming their way, it fired a few shots, and then those shots went directly to where several of these journalists were. Fortunately they realized that it was a dangerous situation, they dove out of the way, they hit the floor, the bullets came smashing in, and as you saw, the one of those bullets hit the ABC camera. Now the Israelis are saying that it was a mistake, some of the journalists who were there aren't quite so sure of that.

KAGAN: Well, and Ben, quickly, I just need to ask you, on a personal note, isn't it difficult for you to be on this assignment, because wasn't it in Palestinian territory that you yourself were shot -- was it last year, or was that two years ago?

WEDEMAN: It was the -- it was on Halloween of 2000. I was hit by a bullet in the Gaza Strip during the clash between Israelis and Palestinians, and obviously, that is something that is very close to my thoughts whenever I go into these situations, but the story has to be covered. That is story that is very important. It has huge implications for the rest of the world.

And I, like other journalists here, are well aware of the risks and we try to take the precautions that we do, but on the other hand, somebody has got to -- got to cover this story, otherwise nobody is going to know about it, so we do have to take certain risks. We just try, Daryn, to minimize those.

KAGAN: Yeah, I can tell you are wearing the flak jacket. Well, you be careful out there, and as you pointed out, it is not just the people we see in front of the cameras taking the chances, and putting their lives on the lines, but the crews behind the camera as well, and we appreciate all the good work that you and all of our CNN crews are doing there. Thank you so much. Ben Wedeman in Ramallah.

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