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CNN Live Today

More Palestinians, Israelis Dead As Zinni Arrives

Aired March 14, 2002 - 11:17   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.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: President Bush's troubleshooter hits the ground running in the Middle East today. His job: cool the violence, warm up the parties to negotiating.

CNN Jerusalem Bureau Chief Mike Hanna reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MIKE HANNA, CNN JERUSALEM BUREAU CHIEF: Violence continued on this day as it has on previous ones. In the Gaza Strip, three Israeli soldiers were killed, when the tank in which they were traveling was hit by an explosive device planted either under the tank or alongside the road. The tank was escorting a convoy of settlers. The three soldiers who were inside the tank were killed. This the second attack on an Israeli Merkava tank, a tank that, in the past, had been regarded by the IDF as indestructible.

In the West Bank city of Ramallah, Israeli operations continued through the morning. Israeli forces have reoccupied the city for the past couple of days. There, at least three Palestinians were killed during the course of the day by Israeli forces. However, towards the afternoon, an announcement from the Israeli prime minister's office that the tanks and the Israeli forces will be redeploying in the West Bank city of Ramallah, that and different diplomatic sources indicate, that what is intended here is some kind of phased withdrawal from the positions that the forces have taken up over recent days.

Earlier, the Palestinian Authority had said there would be no negotiations of any kind while Israeli forces remained in Ramallah, and in other West Bank cities. these negotiations, the aim of special U.S. envoy Anthony Zinni, who arrives in the region to commence some kind of cease-fire negotiations. However, the violence on the ground continuing, Palestinians dead, Israelis dead, Zinni's task to get the sides to agree to a cease-fire, or even begin to discuss implementing a cease-fire still very difficult indeed.

Mike Hanna, CNN, Jerusalem.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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