Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Live At Daybreak

Israel Weighs Response to Suicide Bombing

Aired March 28, 2002 - 05:02   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.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: We're going to take a closer look at what's being called the Passover massacre.

Our John Vause takes us into the devastated seaside restaurant in Netanya. A word of caution for you, though. The pictures you're about to see may be troubling.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOHN VAUSE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This is the dining room at the hotel in Netanya where the explosion happened. We understand the Palestinian man walked through the main entrance of the hotel. He was dressed well. He was carrying a suitcase. He came through, he walked through the main entrance and then he ran. He ran into this banquet room here. It was full of people. He came to this point here and it's here where we understand he set off the explosives.

Typically, it was a belt. We understand typically what they do is they take two electrical wires and they join them. That is the charge, the spark which ignites the explosion. It was quite a massive blast. It brought down parts of the ceiling. There's incredible extensive damage here, wires still hanging from the ceiling as well as the metal, as well.

In this room something like 200 people, families gathered around for Seder, the start of the Jewish Passover holiday. They were sitting on tables. They had come here for this special meal. Look at this table here, the tablecloth is still here, food left on the table, broken plates, knives and forks, a meal which was never eaten and a prayer book, as well.

We're told 20 people are still in critical condition, some of them children. A reminder of that, just over here is a baby stroller, a reminder that in this room at the time of the explosion there were children, as well.

Over here is the dance floor. Now, there's no dancing at a Seder so at the time this area was packed with tables and chairs and family as well. What is quite chilling is to look down here and to see the pools of blood which are still here, mixing in with the water, because at the time of the explosion all the water pipes burst. That's mixing with the blood, which is still there.

This blast, as you say, was a fairly powerful blast, so much more powerful because this was in a confined space. Upstairs we understand the windows have blown out. There's extensive damage to most of this hotel. If we look over here to the other side of the room just to get an idea of just how powerful this blast was, a bar has collapsed. More damage over here. What we can't see behind that wall, though, is the kitchen. Behind there is where the meals were being prepared and still are plates with food.

The death toll from this blast, 19 people, some of them tourists, and also the suicide bomber, as well.

John Vause, CNN, Netanya.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: Just a few hours ago another person died there. The death toll now stands at 20.

Israel has responded to past suicide bombings with missiles, rockets and bulldozers. So what now, you ask?

Well, we want to go live to Jerusalem, where our Michael Holmes is standing by -- Michael, what might Ariel Sharon do now?

MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Carol, that is the talk at the moment is what might be retaliation for this attack in Netanya. And I also want to mention that 67 people of the initial 170 that were injured are still in hospital. Several of them are children and several also, we're told, are tourists. I want to let people know that.

Now in terms of what happens now, the Israeli defense minister met with some of his colleagues late last night and had a meeting about what strategies might be employed. He also was in telephone contact, we're told, with the Israeli prime minister, Ariel Sharon.

There is talk that senior members of the cabinet will meet later today, perhaps this evening, to discuss the Israeli response.

What's on the table? Well, it was only earlier this week that the Israeli security cabinet met and discussed the what if, what if the Zinni cease-fire mission here fails? What are the options?

One of the options that was discussed at that meeting was another massive Israeli military response into the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Obviously that is still an option very clearly on the table, judging from what Israeli government spokesmen have said. Ra'anan Gissin, a well known spokesman for Ariel Sharon here, last night he was saying that the government will choose the time and place to drive home the message that those who carry out such attacks will not be exonerated.

Now, from the Palestinian perspective, the Palestinian Authority very clearly and strongly condemning this bombing and also promising to hunt down those who are responsible.

Who is responsible? Well, Hamas, the militant Islamic organization, has claimed responsibility. They, of course, named the suicide bomber. He came from the West Bank town of Tulkarem.

Obviously this places a lot of pressure on U.S. Special Envoy Anthony Zinni's cease-fire mission to the region. Israeli -- rather, Palestinian officials tell us that they still want that process to continue. However, it must be under incredible pressure at the moment -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Back to the suicide bombing for just a second. This happened in a popular hotel on Passover and yet a man with -- he had to have some heavy duty bombs strapped to him because three floors of that hotel fell. How did he get into the hotel with that many explosives on him?

HOLMES: From what we're told, on this occasion this Palestinian man was well dressed. He was carrying a suitcase as if he was coming to the hotel to check in. The explosives, though, we're told, was the traditional form of suicide bombing, which is a belt laden with explosives that they wear around their body and they go in and there's a couple of ways of detonating that, either by pressing two wires together or some have a pull cord now.

And how he got in, he walked right past the security guard, who initial reports quoted as saying that he didn't look suspicious. He walked straight in, walked through the lobby and straight into the dining hall and just stood in the middle and on this occasion, witnesses say, touched two wires together to detonate the explosives.

He didn't arouse suspicion because, according to those reports from the security guard at the scene, he didn't look suspicious, was well dressed and just walked in like he was about to check in. Israeli government officials last night were telling us that many suicide bombers or would be suicide bombers have been stopped by security forces in the last 10 days or so. One foreign ministry official told me that 11 would-be suicide bombers had been spotted at Israeli checkpoints and through other intelligence. They were bombers that Israel claims never made their targets.

This one did. Netanya is a place that has seen this sort of violence before, not on this level. It's a place that's easily accessible to the West Bank because of its proximity to the so-called green line which separates the West Bank and Israel proper. So security forces have a lot of trouble with infiltrators getting across that green line -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Well, this time around 20 people are dead.

Thank you.

Michael Holmes reporting live for us from Jerusalem this morning.

Of course, this suicide bombing is reverberating around the world, from the Middle East and that Arab summit in Beirut to Washington, D.C.

State Department correspondent Andrea Koppel brings us U.S. reaction to the bombing and its effects on efforts to broker a cease- fire between the Israelis and the Palestinians.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

(voice-over): News of the latest attack drew sharp words from President Bush, who directed the full force of his outrage at Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat.

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I call upon Mr. Arafat and the Palestinian Authority to do everything in their power to stop the terrorist killing, because there are people in the Middle East who would rather kill than have peace.

KOPPEL: The Passover attack, the latest setback in recently stepped up yet so far unsuccessful U.S. efforts to broker a cease- fire. Two weeks into his mission, special Middle East envoy General Anthony Zinni has made little progress. Arafat refusing to take the first step toward any truce despite offers of a meeting with Vice President Cheney. Israel refusing to let Arafat attend the Arab summit without a cease-fire already in place, despite pressure from President Bush to let Arafat go in order to endorse a Saudi peace plan. Among other summit no shows, key players in any Arab-Israeli peace deal -- Egypt's President Mubarak and Jordan's King Abdullah.

NED WALKER, MIDDLE EAST INSTITUTE: I think the Arab leaders are concerned that what the administration is doing here is really the back door into Iraq and they don't know exactly how committed the administration is to solving this problem with the Palestinians.

KOPPEL: But with the body count rising on both sides and no end in sight, the Bush administration recently revised its hands off policy and with U.S. strategic interests and U.S. prestige at stake move from the sidelines to center field.

As for what comes next, a senior State Department official sighed, implying no one knew. He said it's not like a game where you have a play book, flip the page and call the next play. When it comes to brokering a deal between Israel and the Palestinians, he said, it's not that easy.

Andrea Koppel, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: Oh, no, it's not.

Now to the Arab summit, which was scheduled to adjourn today after considering that Saudi peace plan.

Our Christiane Amanpour is in Beirut trying to sort out this complicated gathering -- Christiane, what do you have for us?

CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Carol, after a first day of no shows and walk outs and general chaos, really, here, a general show of disunity amongst the Arab delegations, what appears to be happening today on the closing day is that they are going to come together on the substance of what has been discussed here, and that is the Saudi peace initiative to try to end the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

We're being told that they will come out and endorse unanimously the Saudi proposal that presents a full Arab recognition of Israel's right to exist, an end to the conflict, no further claims on any Israeli territory as long as Israel withdraws to the 1967 borers.

We're also being told that the language is specifically vague on touchy issues such as Jerusalem and on the return of refugees. This in order to appeal to Israeli public opinion and, indeed, international public opinion.

When we talked to the Saudi crown prince, rather, the Saudi foreign minister early this morning, he told us that now for the first time the Arabs who have long been criticized for never putting forth their own initiative have now come up with an initiative that binds them to peace and binds them to accepting a full normalization of relations with Israel in return for land. He also said now it is up to the United States to deliver Israel.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PRINCE SAUD AL-FAISAL, SAUDI FOREIGN MINISTER: The United States has a most crucial effort, too. The United States is the one that supports Israel militarily, economically and politically. It is the only country that can wield an influence on Israel. It has been shown that when the United States pushes Israel toward a compromising position, they will listen. Even public opinion is affected by what the United States is doing.

This is a time where sense must be talked into Mr. Sharon. The war and the conflict now is in his head. This has to be removed from his mind and only the United States can do that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

AMANPOUR: Now, Crown Prince Abdullah, who's been very critical of the Bush administration and its handling or non-handling of the Israeli-Palestinian issue, is going to visit President Bush and he will take that message, we're told, to President Bush to now, "put the U.S. cards on the table now that the Arab countries as a bloc have put their own cards on the table," this in the words of the foreign minister.

Also, of course, we've had condemnation by the foreign minister and other Arab leaders here for that suicide bombing attack in Israel last night. But coupled with what they say is a desperate necessity to get the political track back on track, otherwise this cycle of violence, they say, is going to continue.

We do not expect to hear from Yasser Arafat, who yesterday was not allowed to deliver his live address to the delegates here. Now the Palestinians are telling us that Yasser Arafat has chosen instead to have his text, the text of his remarks delivered and circulated to the delegates here -- Carol.

COSTELLO: So he will not be appearing live by satellite? AMANPOUR: No, he will not.

COSTELLO: OK, thank you.

Christiane Amanpour reporting live for us from Beirut this morning. Thank you.

And you can get much more information on the conflict in the Middle East, including an in depth look at the struggle for peace. It's easy. Just log onto our Web site, cnn.com. As always, the AOL keyword is CNN.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com