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CNN Live Today

Nine Wounded in Israeli Restaurant Blast

Aired June 11, 2002 - 14:34   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.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Now let's get the latest on that suicide bombing near Tel Aviv. CNN's Jerrold Kessel joins us once again. He has more details for us -- Jerrold.

JERROLD KESSEL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Kyra, a familiar scene for Israelis -- all too familiar a scene. Suicide bomber strikes in a crowded area of one of Israel's cities. This time, just outside a Middle Eastern style restaurant in the town of Herzliya, north of Tel Aviv.

But this time, happily the bomber kills only himself and does not kill anybody else. But there are two people seriously -- reported in serious condition, of the nine people who were taken away for hospitalization. The causalities, the two serious causalities, include a woman and a child.

People were there for a late evening or early night snack at that Middle Eastern restaurant when the bomber struck. This is the latest, of course, of a series of suicide bombings. But this time, either because there were not enough explosives on him, or perhaps that not all the explosives went off when he detonated the device, the causalities were relatively light.

But two people still in serious condition. There had been something of a scare, that the bomber had on him some kind of booby trap, which would gone off when the forensics experts and police came to investigate the scene. But now anything there has been neutralized, police say, and the body been taken away.

This latest attack north of Tel-Aviv, the latest in a string of suicide bombings in Israeli towns, comes even though Israel maintains its tight grip around Palestinian towns in the West Bank. There was another of those incursions into a Palestinian town just some 15 miles to the Northeast. That's on the border between Israel and the West Bank, the town of Tulkaram.

And Israel maintains a very heavy military presence in the town of Ramallah -- Yasser Arafat's headquarters which remains besieged there. But Israel says that action in Ramallah not really directed against Mr. Arafat.

But, again, pinpoint operation to try to thwart would-be bombers. The Israelis saying they have stopped a suicide bomb in the last two days. They've located a major bomb factory and have stopped two cars which were primed with explosives, ready for attacks on Israeli targets.

So the Israeli incursions, the Israeli preemptive strikes continuing. But many of the suicide bombers continuing to get through. And another did strike again in this town north of Tel-Aviv; nine Israelis wounded, two in serious condition -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Jerrold, considering what's going on in the area right now, is it normal for these restaurants to have security guards? And was there a security guard at this restaurant?

KESSEL: We don't know if there was one on duty there. But it could well be, because what the reports are that the man had asked for a glass of water just outside. He blew himself up right at the entrance to the restaurant.

It could be that this apparently was something of a walk-in restaurant, with a Middle Eastern style fair of falafel and pita bread and meat on the spit. And it could be that this was a come-to-and- froing, and a lot of people coming and going there. So it might have been more difficult to protect and to have security guard on the gate.

But really indeed, all Israeli public places and many, many restaurants do have security guards to try to thwart bombers. But the bombers seem to blow themselves up just outside, and have caused many causalities in that way, too -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right, our Jerrold Kessel, live from Jerusalem. Thanks, Jerrold.

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