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CNN Live At Daybreak

IDF Destroys House of Suicide Bomber

Aired August 01, 2002 - 05:07   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: And turning our attention to the Middle East now, Israeli forces continued their campaign against terror overnight following yesterday's bomb attack at Hebrew University. The radical Islamic group Hamas has claimed responsibility for the bombing, which killed seven people, including four Americans.

For the latest, we want to head live to Jerusalem now and CNN's John Vause -- good morning, John.

JOHN VAUSE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol.

Yes, the IDF destroying the house of a 17-year-old suicide bomber who blew himself up here in Jerusalem on Tuesday outside a falafel stand. In that attack, four people were injured. But the attack yesterday at the Hebrew University quite different, indeed. Seven people killed. More than 80 wounded in that blast.

Now, today at the, on the campus of the Hebrew University, students gathered in lecture halls to be told the names of their colleagues who died. It was a very emotional moment for these students. It is summer vacation here at the university, but there are many classes and many of those students who go to these classes are, in fact, from overseas.

Today these students were told that among the fallen, four Americans, two Israelis and one French student.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE (voice-over): Despite the decades of violence in Israel, there has never been a terrorist attack at Jerusalem's Hebrew University, until now. A bag packed full of explosives tore apart the student cafeteria, making this campus, where Jews and Arabs had freely mixed, another bloody landmark.

YURI STEINSAPPER, STUDENT: It's awful. It was always a safe place. It's very, it's many Arabic, Arab students also here. And I'm in shock.

VAUSE: The blast was so powerful it brought down part of the ceiling. Glass from shattered windows sprayed the area, so, too, metal fragments from the bomb. The narrow streets made it difficult for ambulance crews. In the moments after the blast, police closed the area, fearing another explosion.

Despite summer vacation, the cafeteria was busy with students, many from overseas. Among the dead, four Americans, two Israelis and one reportedly from France.

ALSATIAN GOLDRAIN, ENGLISH STUDENT: There was glass flying everywhere. There was blood flying everywhere. This was a disgusting scene. It was total anarchy in there. I go inside, there's bodies everywhere.

VAUSE: In Gaza City, thousands took to the streets in a celebration of revenge. The rally was led by Hamas. The university bombing, it says, was retaliation for Israel's air strike last week, which killed the Hamas military leader Salah Shehada, along with 14 others, including nine children.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: Now, Carol, the attack at Hebrew University, Hamas is saying that is, in fact, its first response, its first wave in what will be many, many more to come as Hamas is warning Israelis to prepare many more body bags for its next strike in Israel -- Carol.

COSTELLO: John, four Americans died in this latest attack. They were celebrating in the streets, we just saw, in Gaza City. Will this put more pressure on President Bush, do you think, to do something about this? And was Hamas -- I don't even know how to put it -- I mean was Hamas glad that Americans died in this blast?

VAUSE: Two very difficult questions, Carol. I don't know if I can speak for Hamas. I don't know if I can speak for the president. But I know that this target was, according to Israeli officials, at least, one that had been seen as a place of peace, a place where Arab students and Jewish students had congregated together, had come together in very, for years, if you like, throughout this intifada, where Jewish students and Arab students, in fact, protested this ongoing violence in this region together in one voice.

And according to Israeli officials, this university was targeted because Hamas do not want peace. They want to ruin the peace. They want there to be no chance of Arabs and Jews being able to live together.

As far as Americans being targeted, well, yes, there's a lot of resentment in this part of the world towards the United States. You know, the United States provides the weapons to the Israelis. The bomb that was dropped on that apartment block in Gaza City, you know, it came from an F-16 and it was provided for by the United States.

You go to Gaza and there is graffiti everywhere -- this is the result of American weapons. So the deaths of American students, I don't know if it brings joy, but maybe some satisfaction, Carol.

COSTELLO: All right, John Vause reporting live for us from Jerusalem this morning. We appreciate it. One of the four Americans killed in the university blast is Marla Bennett. You'll see her here in a yearbook photo. A friend of the 24-year-old San Diego woman remembers her smile and her enthusiasm and says he was shocked to find out she was one of the victims.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FELIX CHU, VICTIM'S FRIEND: Once you called me and mentioned that a Patrick Henry student was in Israel that was missing and -- I sat down and flipped through the yearbook and was wondering who it could have been. I was -- I flipped to her page and was hoping that it wasn't her. And I said no, it's not her. And in the back of my mind I was still thinking, well, she's the most logical one.

I remember at Cal even, when we were there together, she talked about her trip to Israel. She made a trip before she went to study there and she just couldn't stop talking about it. It just seemed like she fit there. She was just a great person. She was always happy, always smiling. She had that very infectious smile. She was very proud to be Jewish.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: And we have the names of two of the other victims. They are Janis Ruth Coulter. She's from Massachusetts. And Benjamin Blutstein of Pennsylvania. The fourth American has not yet been identified.

For more on the attack at Hebrew University and the crisis of the Middle East, log onto cnn.com. There you'll find video of the blast as well as a look at the victims of such terror attacks.

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