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American Morning
Shooting Today in West Bank
Aired June 30, 2003 - 07:32 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.
RENAY SAN MIGUEL, CNN ANCHOR: Well, one day after three Palestinian militant groups announced a cease-fire with Israel, there was a shooting today in the West Bank. The Al Aqsa Martyr Brigades took responsibility for the shooting. They said they were not parties to the cease-fire agreement. Earlier, though, today, Israel handed over control of a major highway in Gaza.
Our Matthew Chance is live at the site of the highway now being returned to Palestinian control and he joins us now with more -- Matthew.
MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Renay, thank you very much.
And despite that violence, these are still the most serious moves towards peace in this region in 33 months of violence. Israeli forces, as you can see, have abandoned their positions here in the, this part of the northern Gaza Strip, essential allowing Palestinian security forces to fill in the void, to come in and assume responsibility for security in this area.
The main benefit to ordinary Palestinians so far has been the opening of this main highway that runs north to south along the Gaza Strip, right from the south and the border with Egypt, right up into Israel itself. We understand from Palestinian officials that several thousand Palestinian workmen have been permitted to cross into Israel this morning. They're day laborers. Day laboring is an essential part of the impoverished Palestinian economy here.
For their part, the Palestinian security forces have been coming in in considerable numbers to fulfill their part of the bargain, to ensure that attacks by militant groups are not launched against Israelis, at least from this territory. That would not be possible, they say, but were it not for that truce that you mentioned earlier that has been declared by the -- at least the two main Palestinian militant groups, Hamas and Islamic Jihad, who are very strong on the ground here.
The U.S. and Israel both want to see more action from the Palestinian Authority, not just a truce. But they want to see action to dismantle those groups, to take them out of existence. Palestinian officials, for their part, argue that, first of all, they're not physically capable of that, and secondly, in order for them to politically be able to arrest people, for instance, who are very popular amongst ordinary Palestinians, the lives of ordinary Palestinians have to be improved.
And so many people here hope that this freeing up of this road, making freedom of movement much easier for people to go about their every day lives and their businesses, will go some way towards, first of all, making freedom of movement easier, and secondly, building political support for the Palestinians to crack down.
SAN MIGUEL: Matthew, one quick question. This morning's shooting, the Al Aqsa Martyr Brigade has taken responsibility. It says it was not a part of that cease-fire agreement with Hamas and Islamic Jihad. Talk to us about how this highlights the difficulties that Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas has in trying to keep all of the militant groups under control there.
CHANCE: That's right, now ongoing negotiations with the Al Aqsa Martyr Brigade, which is, of course, closely afil -- or loosely affiliated, at least, with Yasser Arafat's own Fatah faction, indeed, Mahmoud Abbas' own Fatah faction of the PLO. There are always going to be renegade elements of the various militant groups that do not agree with this cease-fire. That's really the challenge on the Palestinian security forces, as well as on the leaders of the Palestinian militant groups, to try and make sure everybody conforms to what they've declared will happen.
But obviously it's not a foolproof system.
SAN MIGUEL: Matthew Chance in Gaza.
Thank you so much for the report.
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 30, 2003 - 07:32 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
RENAY SAN MIGUEL, CNN ANCHOR: Well, one day after three Palestinian militant groups announced a cease-fire with Israel, there was a shooting today in the West Bank. The Al Aqsa Martyr Brigades took responsibility for the shooting. They said they were not parties to the cease-fire agreement. Earlier, though, today, Israel handed over control of a major highway in Gaza.
Our Matthew Chance is live at the site of the highway now being returned to Palestinian control and he joins us now with more -- Matthew.
MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Renay, thank you very much.
And despite that violence, these are still the most serious moves towards peace in this region in 33 months of violence. Israeli forces, as you can see, have abandoned their positions here in the, this part of the northern Gaza Strip, essential allowing Palestinian security forces to fill in the void, to come in and assume responsibility for security in this area.
The main benefit to ordinary Palestinians so far has been the opening of this main highway that runs north to south along the Gaza Strip, right from the south and the border with Egypt, right up into Israel itself. We understand from Palestinian officials that several thousand Palestinian workmen have been permitted to cross into Israel this morning. They're day laborers. Day laboring is an essential part of the impoverished Palestinian economy here.
For their part, the Palestinian security forces have been coming in in considerable numbers to fulfill their part of the bargain, to ensure that attacks by militant groups are not launched against Israelis, at least from this territory. That would not be possible, they say, but were it not for that truce that you mentioned earlier that has been declared by the -- at least the two main Palestinian militant groups, Hamas and Islamic Jihad, who are very strong on the ground here.
The U.S. and Israel both want to see more action from the Palestinian Authority, not just a truce. But they want to see action to dismantle those groups, to take them out of existence. Palestinian officials, for their part, argue that, first of all, they're not physically capable of that, and secondly, in order for them to politically be able to arrest people, for instance, who are very popular amongst ordinary Palestinians, the lives of ordinary Palestinians have to be improved.
And so many people here hope that this freeing up of this road, making freedom of movement much easier for people to go about their every day lives and their businesses, will go some way towards, first of all, making freedom of movement easier, and secondly, building political support for the Palestinians to crack down.
SAN MIGUEL: Matthew, one quick question. This morning's shooting, the Al Aqsa Martyr Brigade has taken responsibility. It says it was not a part of that cease-fire agreement with Hamas and Islamic Jihad. Talk to us about how this highlights the difficulties that Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas has in trying to keep all of the militant groups under control there.
CHANCE: That's right, now ongoing negotiations with the Al Aqsa Martyr Brigade, which is, of course, closely afil -- or loosely affiliated, at least, with Yasser Arafat's own Fatah faction, indeed, Mahmoud Abbas' own Fatah faction of the PLO. There are always going to be renegade elements of the various militant groups that do not agree with this cease-fire. That's really the challenge on the Palestinian security forces, as well as on the leaders of the Palestinian militant groups, to try and make sure everybody conforms to what they've declared will happen.
But obviously it's not a foolproof system.
SAN MIGUEL: Matthew Chance in Gaza.
Thank you so much for the report.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
