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CNN Live At Daybreak
Crisis in the Middle East: More Violence
Aired June 18, 2003 - 05:08 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: On to the Middle East now, also violence in the West Bank where the Israeli military has imposed a curfew on the town where a 7-year-old girl was killed by a suspected Palestinian gunman.
Jerrold Kessel, live in Jerusalem, has more for us.
Good morning -- Jerrold.
JERROLD KESSEL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol.
And just to underline how fragile the situation is, this latest shooting incident right on the border between the West Bank and Israel on a major highway that is inside Israel, a 7-year-old girl. The family car was going late last night, driving up towards Kfar (ph) in northern Israel. A shooting from just across the border in the West Bank, this is at the town of Qalqilyah. A gunman apparently got through a wall that Israel is building as a barrier alongside that highway, shot up the family car. The 7-year-old died on the spot and her 3-year-old sister also seriously hurt and two other family members were wounded in this latest Palestinian attack.
Israel clamping a curfew on the nearby Palestinian town, so far unable to come up with a trace of the gunman or gunmen. And Israel tried to determine whether this was a wildcat shooting or a coordinated attack by one of the militant groups. But it's certainly overshadowing those efforts down in Gaza that have been going on for the last several days of the Palestinian Authority trying to bring the Palestinian militant groups, principally Hamas, the militant Islamic group Hamas, in to line to agree to end or to end, at least temporarily, their attacks on Israelis. The Palestinian Authority trying to get that truce in place in order to go forward with an agreement with Israel whereby it would take over certain areas, responsibility for those areas, and keep the militants from acting and that'll allow Israeli troops to withdraw.
Israel, meanwhile, edging towards giving the United States an understanding that if the Palestinians do control the militant, then it would cease its initiated military action, so say Israeli sources, and give the Palestinian Authority, under Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas, a chance to rein in the militants, at least temporarily.
So these tenuous efforts all under way on all sides in advance of an anticipated visit by U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell on Friday to try to lock in the two sides to this at least temporary cease-fire in order to give that peace initiative a shove forward. But this all overshadowed by this latest shooting incident along Israel's border with the West Bank and the killing of that 7-year-old Israeli child -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Understand. Jerrold Kessel live from Jerusalem this morning.
Peacekeeping force is a hot topic in Gaza. Learn more and more -- learn more about that on our Web site. Just click on to 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 18, 2003 - 05:08 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: On to the Middle East now, also violence in the West Bank where the Israeli military has imposed a curfew on the town where a 7-year-old girl was killed by a suspected Palestinian gunman.
Jerrold Kessel, live in Jerusalem, has more for us.
Good morning -- Jerrold.
JERROLD KESSEL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol.
And just to underline how fragile the situation is, this latest shooting incident right on the border between the West Bank and Israel on a major highway that is inside Israel, a 7-year-old girl. The family car was going late last night, driving up towards Kfar (ph) in northern Israel. A shooting from just across the border in the West Bank, this is at the town of Qalqilyah. A gunman apparently got through a wall that Israel is building as a barrier alongside that highway, shot up the family car. The 7-year-old died on the spot and her 3-year-old sister also seriously hurt and two other family members were wounded in this latest Palestinian attack.
Israel clamping a curfew on the nearby Palestinian town, so far unable to come up with a trace of the gunman or gunmen. And Israel tried to determine whether this was a wildcat shooting or a coordinated attack by one of the militant groups. But it's certainly overshadowing those efforts down in Gaza that have been going on for the last several days of the Palestinian Authority trying to bring the Palestinian militant groups, principally Hamas, the militant Islamic group Hamas, in to line to agree to end or to end, at least temporarily, their attacks on Israelis. The Palestinian Authority trying to get that truce in place in order to go forward with an agreement with Israel whereby it would take over certain areas, responsibility for those areas, and keep the militants from acting and that'll allow Israeli troops to withdraw.
Israel, meanwhile, edging towards giving the United States an understanding that if the Palestinians do control the militant, then it would cease its initiated military action, so say Israeli sources, and give the Palestinian Authority, under Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas, a chance to rein in the militants, at least temporarily.
So these tenuous efforts all under way on all sides in advance of an anticipated visit by U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell on Friday to try to lock in the two sides to this at least temporary cease-fire in order to give that peace initiative a shove forward. But this all overshadowed by this latest shooting incident along Israel's border with the West Bank and the killing of that 7-year-old Israeli child -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Understand. Jerrold Kessel live from Jerusalem this morning.
Peacekeeping force is a hot topic in Gaza. Learn more and more -- learn more about that on our Web site. Just click on to 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
