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CNN Live Today

Israeli Forces Gain Control of Five Palestinian Cities

Aired April 03, 2002 - 14:04   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 LIN, CNN ANCHOR: Let's get right to the Middle East, where Israeli forces are said to control now five Palestinian cities in the West Bank offensive. That shows no signs of winding down. CNN's Bill Hemmer is standing by in Jerusalem, covering all of this for us. Bill, what do you have?

BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, I want to start again this hour in Bethlehem, Carol. As you mentioned, we do have word now that a number of American and British diplomats, at least American and British, have been evacuated out of Bethlehem. It was hours ago, where a number of armored cars lined up outside the city. But indeed they've been given access. And a number of people spirited away to here, in Jerusalem, in fact, within the past hour.

Speaking of Bethlehem, Ben Wedeman there, a CNN correspondent, went earlier today. He got right into the town to see firsthand what was happening there. Ben filed this report a short time ago.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): On a cold and rainy day, a delegation of Christian leaders tries to convince Israeli soldiers to let them enter Bethlehem. Their goal: to end the standoff at the Church of the Nativity.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Give us a chance to go and see what we can do. If one of is hurt, well, we're responsible for our lives. OK? We won't say that you hit us. We will say someone else hit us.

WEDEMAN: They were turned back. Bethlehem has been declared a closed military area. Israeli forces now control most of this ancient town, the birthplace of Christ. They crush everything in their way. The population cowers behind closed doors.

(on camera): Bethlehem is now under round-the-clock curfew. Desperate or reckless, those who dare venture out. This ambulance isn't going anywhere, its drivers fearing for their lives.

(voice-over): In one house, the bodies of man and a women. The dead are this man's bother and mother, killed on Monday. He's been waiting for an ambulance to take them away.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Until now, 27 hours. I'm calling... UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We don't know how many houses, how many injured, how many dead. It's extremely unbelievable, what's going on in Bethlehem these days.

WEDEMAN: At the edge of Bethlehem in the village of Beit Jala, the Israeli curfew is lifted for a few hours. A chance to buy yesterday's bread.

"The only solution is more suicide bombing," says this man. "That's the only way to deter Israel, to deter Sharon."

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HEMMER: Again, Ben Wedeman filed that piece a short time ago. You may have heard in his story that there were some Brits trying to get out, some Americans, too, indeed, Carol, as the situation changes -- literally by the minute right now, that has taken place out of Bethlehem -- again, coming here to the city of Jerusalem -- Carol.

LIN: Bill, I'm just wondering. How difficult is it to move around town? It's hard to get the perspective, you know. And I don't know how many people realize how close Bethlehem is, to even your position right there in central Jerusalem. Are you able to at least get over to the outskirts?

HEMMER: In Jerusalem, you can move quite freely. That really has not been prohibited in any way, ever since I arrived here, again, early on Saturday. But Bethlehem is a different story. There are checkpoints just outside of the city there that have prevented a lot of journalist and other traffic moving through.

Now, there is, the locals will tell you, a back way into Bethlehem. You can go further south. Essentially, Jerusalem and Bethlehem are separated by six miles; Jerusalem to the north, Bethlehem to the south. If you go further south and come in from behind, they say there's a lot easier access down there.

But the point Ben was making a short time ago. He said that he was surprised, frankly, by how many international journalists had actually penetrated into Bethlehem, into the town today. But getting to Manger Square is an entirely different matter. Again, he mentioned, that's where the front lines of that conflict right now is being staged. You cannot get close to that part of the city -- Carol.

LIN: And from your perspective, what you're watching unfold in Bethlehem right now, the significance that this holy city, the birthplace of Jesus Christ, placed firmly in Palestinian territory, under Palestinian control, this gun battle taking place right now in Bethlehem, the nature of it is very different than what we're seeing in other West Bank cities, would you agree?

HEMMER: Yeah. Just simply because of the geography here, and the sacred place of the Church of the Nativity, that is so sacred and so religious to so many Christians around the world. Having said that, though, we have been told by both sides, they stress the fact that they will not carry out military activity, once -- as long as the current conflict goes on inside of this church.

The IDF says specifically that they've been under orders for some time now, never to carry out military activity if it involves, you know, religious sites such as this. So, that said, certainly reality can be a much different deal. But to this point, Carol, both sides have respected that.

LIN: And what is your understanding of who these people are in the Church of the Nativity? Because the copy that I've been reading here kind of swings both ways. Sometimes we say there are 150 to 200 gunmen. Sometimes we say Palestinians taking shelter. And, though those are merely words on a page, they're implications, in terms of how we characterize those people. Who are they? And who would be responsible for getting them out?

HEMMER: We've heard numbers, anywhere from 12 to 250. But listening closely throughout the day, it appears the best number we have, based on journalists inside the church, actually, that about 200 -- mostly Palestinian gunman, but possibly a handful of civilians, possibly some women and children as well.

Now, why are the Israelis so concerned about the people inside? They say there are wanted terrorists who have taken refuge inside of that church, and they will not go away until they have a chance of getting them in custody, and then carrying out the questioning. The site we saw in Ramallah followed a similar pattern.

They also say that some of these gunmen are a branch of the militant wing of Fatah, which is indirectly linked to Yasser Arafat. So they say these are the people that they're going after now, inside of that church. Any I should mention again, just for our audience, we had a similar situation in Ramallah yesterday. Four-hundred Palestinians inside that security compound. It was mediated, Carol, late in the day, apparently, by the United States, who stepped in and called a truce, essentially.

All 400 got out, but then about 200 were then taken into Israeli custody. We're told right now they're being questioned and gone through to see if any of those people match up on these so-called terrorist lists. It's possible, Carol, that the Middle East envoy from the Vatican may have a role in this right now. We were told hours ago that he would try and mediate something. To this point, it hasn't happened.

They're running low on food inside. There are injured people inside. And really, to give you kind of a crazy scenario, if you can imagine this, Carol, the reports on the inside of the church say that there are wounded gunmen sitting in pews, being tended to by nuns and priests inside of there. That's the deal in Bethlehem now.

LIN: Yes, hard to imagine. Hard to imagine. Thank you very much. Bill Hemmer, live in Jerusalem.

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