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CNN Live At Daybreak
Middle East Explodes in Violence
Aired June 13, 2003 - 05:32 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: Less than two weeks after a new Middle East peace initiative appeared possible, the Middle East has exploded in violence. Here's the latest. Israeli missiles struck a car in Gaza City yesterday, killing a senior Hamas militant and six others, including the man's wife and infant daughter. Twenty-five were wounded. Israeli military sources also say two Islamic Jihad militants were killed in the West Bank.
On Wednesday, Israeli helicopter gunships fired on another car, killing four militants and seven others in Gaza. And earlier that same day, a Hamas suicide bomber killed 17 people aboard a bus in Jerusalem. Scores of people were injured.
Secretary of State Colin Powell will try his hand at finding a diplomat solution to end this violence. He's now attending a June 22 meeting in Amman, Jordan with representatives from the U.N., Russia and the European Union.
There just may not be enough for those representatives to work with in Amman. One Israeli official now calls Hamas, and I'm quoting here, "our al Qaeda, our local al Qaeda."
Let's go live to Gaza City for the latest from there.
Kelly Wallace joins us on the phone -- Kelly, good morning.
KELLY WALLACE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol.
Well, funerals are about to get under way here in Gaza City for those seven Palestinians or some of the seven Palestinians killed yesterday by helicopter gunships. As you said, the dead including a senior Hamas commander, as well as his wife and his young daughter. And Palestinians we've been talking to this morning are expressing tremendous anger about that attack and the other attacks this week, accusing Israel of targeting innocent civilians.
Now, the Israelis are rejecting those charges and as you said, the Israeli military issuing a statement yesterday expressing regret for the deaths of the family members of that Hamas commander.
A security source I talked to said that the Israeli military received some faulty information and that the army did not know that the family members were inside the car at the time of the attack.
Now, Israel saying that it will continue to go after Hamas forcefully. One senior official I talked to saying this is an all out war to prevent attacks like the one we saw on Wednesday, and that is when that suicide bomber dressed as an Orthodox Jew blew himself up and killed 17 people. Funerals for many of the people killed going on in Jerusalem and throughout Israel on this day, as well.
Hamas, for its part, is saying that that attack, which it claimed responsibility for, is just the beginning. And it issued a leaflet yesterday to news organizations warning foreigners to leave Israel in order to protect themselves, vowing more attacks.
Now, a big question now, what role is the United States going to play here? Palestinians say that the U.S. should pressure Israel to stop these air strikes in the Gaza area. The Israelis say the U.S. should be pressuring the Palestinian Authority and Arab leaders to stop attacks by groups like Hamas. And right now, Carol, that U.S. secretary of state, John Wolf, who is going to be the new point man for the U.S. in this region, is expected to arrive here this weekend. He faced a huge task just a few days ago, now an even huger one, trying somehow to resuscitate this road map that many people say is currently dead -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Kelly Wallace live from Gaza this morning.
And talking about that point man, that American point man to the Middle East, what are they saying back here? Well, Condoleezza Rice says Israeli and Palestinian leaders must keep their promises to stop this round of violence. The president's national security adviser says that tattered road map to peace for the region just may be the only way to end the violence.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CONDOLEEZZA RICE, NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER: President Bush remains committed to the course set at Aqaba because it is the only course that will bring a durable peace and lasting security. This president keeps his promises. He expects all the parties to keep theirs.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: This crisis is certainly a challenge for the Bush administration. In the next hour of DAYBREAK, we'll talk live with our senior White House correspondent, John King.
And you can keep up on the latest on this crisis by going to our Web site. You'll get the depth of a newspaper and the immediacy of television. The address, cnn.com, AOL keyword: 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
Aired June 13, 2003 - 05:32 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Less than two weeks after a new Middle East peace initiative appeared possible, the Middle East has exploded in violence. Here's the latest. Israeli missiles struck a car in Gaza City yesterday, killing a senior Hamas militant and six others, including the man's wife and infant daughter. Twenty-five were wounded. Israeli military sources also say two Islamic Jihad militants were killed in the West Bank.
On Wednesday, Israeli helicopter gunships fired on another car, killing four militants and seven others in Gaza. And earlier that same day, a Hamas suicide bomber killed 17 people aboard a bus in Jerusalem. Scores of people were injured.
Secretary of State Colin Powell will try his hand at finding a diplomat solution to end this violence. He's now attending a June 22 meeting in Amman, Jordan with representatives from the U.N., Russia and the European Union.
There just may not be enough for those representatives to work with in Amman. One Israeli official now calls Hamas, and I'm quoting here, "our al Qaeda, our local al Qaeda."
Let's go live to Gaza City for the latest from there.
Kelly Wallace joins us on the phone -- Kelly, good morning.
KELLY WALLACE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol.
Well, funerals are about to get under way here in Gaza City for those seven Palestinians or some of the seven Palestinians killed yesterday by helicopter gunships. As you said, the dead including a senior Hamas commander, as well as his wife and his young daughter. And Palestinians we've been talking to this morning are expressing tremendous anger about that attack and the other attacks this week, accusing Israel of targeting innocent civilians.
Now, the Israelis are rejecting those charges and as you said, the Israeli military issuing a statement yesterday expressing regret for the deaths of the family members of that Hamas commander.
A security source I talked to said that the Israeli military received some faulty information and that the army did not know that the family members were inside the car at the time of the attack.
Now, Israel saying that it will continue to go after Hamas forcefully. One senior official I talked to saying this is an all out war to prevent attacks like the one we saw on Wednesday, and that is when that suicide bomber dressed as an Orthodox Jew blew himself up and killed 17 people. Funerals for many of the people killed going on in Jerusalem and throughout Israel on this day, as well.
Hamas, for its part, is saying that that attack, which it claimed responsibility for, is just the beginning. And it issued a leaflet yesterday to news organizations warning foreigners to leave Israel in order to protect themselves, vowing more attacks.
Now, a big question now, what role is the United States going to play here? Palestinians say that the U.S. should pressure Israel to stop these air strikes in the Gaza area. The Israelis say the U.S. should be pressuring the Palestinian Authority and Arab leaders to stop attacks by groups like Hamas. And right now, Carol, that U.S. secretary of state, John Wolf, who is going to be the new point man for the U.S. in this region, is expected to arrive here this weekend. He faced a huge task just a few days ago, now an even huger one, trying somehow to resuscitate this road map that many people say is currently dead -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Kelly Wallace live from Gaza this morning.
And talking about that point man, that American point man to the Middle East, what are they saying back here? Well, Condoleezza Rice says Israeli and Palestinian leaders must keep their promises to stop this round of violence. The president's national security adviser says that tattered road map to peace for the region just may be the only way to end the violence.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CONDOLEEZZA RICE, NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER: President Bush remains committed to the course set at Aqaba because it is the only course that will bring a durable peace and lasting security. This president keeps his promises. He expects all the parties to keep theirs.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: This crisis is certainly a challenge for the Bush administration. In the next hour of DAYBREAK, we'll talk live with our senior White House correspondent, John King.
And you can keep up on the latest on this crisis by going to our Web site. You'll get the depth of a newspaper and the immediacy of television. The address, cnn.com, AOL keyword: 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
