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Hamas Leader Targeted in Israeli Rocket Attack
Aired June 10, 2003 - 06:34 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.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: There has been a major escalation by Israeli forces in the Middle East. At least three are dead. That's a new number to tell you about right now. Just about two-and-a-half hours ago, an Israeli helicopter gunship targeted a senior Hamas leader.
Let's go live to Jerusalem now and Jerrold Kessel, so he can tell us what happened.
Good morning -- Jerrold.
JERROLD KESSEL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning again, Carol.
And, yes, in the last half-hour one of the bodyguards of the man whom the Israelis were apparently targeting, a leading Hamas official, Abdel Aziz Rantissi, one of his bodyguards has died of injuries sustained in this helicopter gunship attack on the top Hamas official.
He was wounded and is being treated in a Gaza hospital. His condition, the latest we heard from doctors at the Shifa Hospital, is that he is in stable condition. A woman and her 8-year-old daughter were also killed, and 25 people were wounded, a number of them seriously, along with the Hamas official, Abdel Aziz Rantissi.
But its the political ramifications that are now beginning to be felt. At this time, the Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas in session with some other top officials in his bureau in Ramallah. The Palestinians have already approached the United States to intervene and to condemn this attack by Israel and to say that Israel must stop carrying out these targeted assassinations. And we wait to hear word from Washington. Still no word from Israel about this attack -- Carol.
COSTELLO: We have had word from Hamas, though, haven't we, Jerrold?
KESSEL: We have indeed. Other Hamas officials are saying that Israel will be targeted, that this will not go by unpunished. That is the menacing word from Hamas.
But to be fair, Hamas has not stopped its attacks on Israel even after that fanfare summit, which was set in motion of the new peace initiative last week by President Bush, at which the Palestinian prime minister said he wanted an end to the armed uprising, the armed intifada. But Hamas said it wouldnt go along with that and continued its attacks against Israel. Now, it's saying there will be revenge attacks, serious revenge attacks. COSTELLO: Oh.
KESSEL: That's straight from Hamas in the wake of this Israeli attack.
COSTELLO: Jerrold Kessel live from Jerusalem.
And as you heard Jerrold say, this attack by the Israeli helicopter gunship is expected to have an impact on the Bush administration's efforts at peace in the Middle East.
Let's head live to Washington now and check in with our senior White House correspondent, John King.
Good morning -- John.
JOHN KING, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, Carol.
This obviously a major test of President Bush's commitment to personally intervene when necessary to keep the two parties -- the Israelis and the Palestinians -- implementing the early steps of the so-called road map for peace.
No official reaction here yet this morning. Most of the national security staff just coming to work at this hour. One official I spoke to earlier said -- quote -- "Not helpful obviously," when describing the Israeli attack this morning.
The question for the Bush administration is: Will it say that this attack is a justified Israeli response to terrorism and violence, the violence against Israeli soldiers in recent days? Or will the White House say that it is a disproportionate response by the Israeli officials? That is the key question as we await the official response from the White House and the State Department.
Mr. Bush, of course, has said that violence was to be expected, unfortunately, as the two parties took the early steps towards peace. He must now keep his commitment to intervene and keep the parties on track.
One other thing to watch for. The president said his own national security advisor, Condoleezza Rice, would take a more prominent role. Officials here at the White House say this is the type of incident in which she is likely to step to the forefront, because it involves Israeli military response, national security matters. Look for Dr. Rice here at the White House, as well as Secretary of State Colin Powell, to be involved in the administration's response, trying to keep this early momentum the president thought he had generated in the peace process from collapsing completely -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Yes, and, John, just to be more specific so our audience better understands, this is the Hamas leader Israel could not prove was directly involved in any suicide attacks, and this is different, because in the past Israel has only targeted Hamas leaders directly responsible for attacks on Israeli citizens, right?
KING: Right. Israel would make the case that he is a Hamas leader who has been openly speaking about more violence against Israel, which Israel we assume will say makes him a legitimate target. But in the past, Mr. Rantissi has said he works for the political wing. He has nothing to do with the military wing of Hamas. That will be one of the key issues as the Palestinians, the Israelis and here in Washington, as everyone tries to sort this out and tries to see whether it is a setback or a major setback to the early days of this peace process.
COSTELLO: All right, John King live from Washington.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
Aired June 10, 2003 - 06:34 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: There has been a major escalation by Israeli forces in the Middle East. At least three are dead. That's a new number to tell you about right now. Just about two-and-a-half hours ago, an Israeli helicopter gunship targeted a senior Hamas leader.
Let's go live to Jerusalem now and Jerrold Kessel, so he can tell us what happened.
Good morning -- Jerrold.
JERROLD KESSEL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning again, Carol.
And, yes, in the last half-hour one of the bodyguards of the man whom the Israelis were apparently targeting, a leading Hamas official, Abdel Aziz Rantissi, one of his bodyguards has died of injuries sustained in this helicopter gunship attack on the top Hamas official.
He was wounded and is being treated in a Gaza hospital. His condition, the latest we heard from doctors at the Shifa Hospital, is that he is in stable condition. A woman and her 8-year-old daughter were also killed, and 25 people were wounded, a number of them seriously, along with the Hamas official, Abdel Aziz Rantissi.
But its the political ramifications that are now beginning to be felt. At this time, the Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas in session with some other top officials in his bureau in Ramallah. The Palestinians have already approached the United States to intervene and to condemn this attack by Israel and to say that Israel must stop carrying out these targeted assassinations. And we wait to hear word from Washington. Still no word from Israel about this attack -- Carol.
COSTELLO: We have had word from Hamas, though, haven't we, Jerrold?
KESSEL: We have indeed. Other Hamas officials are saying that Israel will be targeted, that this will not go by unpunished. That is the menacing word from Hamas.
But to be fair, Hamas has not stopped its attacks on Israel even after that fanfare summit, which was set in motion of the new peace initiative last week by President Bush, at which the Palestinian prime minister said he wanted an end to the armed uprising, the armed intifada. But Hamas said it wouldnt go along with that and continued its attacks against Israel. Now, it's saying there will be revenge attacks, serious revenge attacks. COSTELLO: Oh.
KESSEL: That's straight from Hamas in the wake of this Israeli attack.
COSTELLO: Jerrold Kessel live from Jerusalem.
And as you heard Jerrold say, this attack by the Israeli helicopter gunship is expected to have an impact on the Bush administration's efforts at peace in the Middle East.
Let's head live to Washington now and check in with our senior White House correspondent, John King.
Good morning -- John.
JOHN KING, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, Carol.
This obviously a major test of President Bush's commitment to personally intervene when necessary to keep the two parties -- the Israelis and the Palestinians -- implementing the early steps of the so-called road map for peace.
No official reaction here yet this morning. Most of the national security staff just coming to work at this hour. One official I spoke to earlier said -- quote -- "Not helpful obviously," when describing the Israeli attack this morning.
The question for the Bush administration is: Will it say that this attack is a justified Israeli response to terrorism and violence, the violence against Israeli soldiers in recent days? Or will the White House say that it is a disproportionate response by the Israeli officials? That is the key question as we await the official response from the White House and the State Department.
Mr. Bush, of course, has said that violence was to be expected, unfortunately, as the two parties took the early steps towards peace. He must now keep his commitment to intervene and keep the parties on track.
One other thing to watch for. The president said his own national security advisor, Condoleezza Rice, would take a more prominent role. Officials here at the White House say this is the type of incident in which she is likely to step to the forefront, because it involves Israeli military response, national security matters. Look for Dr. Rice here at the White House, as well as Secretary of State Colin Powell, to be involved in the administration's response, trying to keep this early momentum the president thought he had generated in the peace process from collapsing completely -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Yes, and, John, just to be more specific so our audience better understands, this is the Hamas leader Israel could not prove was directly involved in any suicide attacks, and this is different, because in the past Israel has only targeted Hamas leaders directly responsible for attacks on Israeli citizens, right?
KING: Right. Israel would make the case that he is a Hamas leader who has been openly speaking about more violence against Israel, which Israel we assume will say makes him a legitimate target. But in the past, Mr. Rantissi has said he works for the political wing. He has nothing to do with the military wing of Hamas. That will be one of the key issues as the Palestinians, the Israelis and here in Washington, as everyone tries to sort this out and tries to see whether it is a setback or a major setback to the early days of this peace process.
COSTELLO: All right, John King live from Washington.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
