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Israeli Missile Strike Kills Hamas Leader in Gaza

Aired August 21, 2003 - 11:01   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.


LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: First up this hour in the spiral of violence and the deepening crisis in the Middle East, Israel today fired back against the Palestinian militant group, Hamas, killing one of its leaders. And now, Hamas has declared an end to its cease-fire with Israel.
CNN's Michael Holmes joins us now by videophone. He is in Gaza, which was the scene of that Israeli airstrike -- Michael.

MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Leon, well, it certainly was the scene of this airstrike. We were at the scene within minutes. We were only about half a mile away, when the three -- some people say five missiles fired from Israeli Apache helicopters slammed into the car.

Abu Shanab, a well-known Hamas figure, a senior Hamas official was in the car with two bodyguards. All three of them were killed. It was a gruesome sight, as bystanders pulled the bodies, burnt and injured bodies from the car, and loaded them into ambulances. But they were well and truly dead at that point.

This was the latest twist in a series of violence, bloody developments that have taken place, derailing, if you like, the road map. The most recent, of course, was the bus bombing that took place, carried out by Hamas and Islamic Jihad in West Jerusalem, which left 20 people, including several children, dead.

Now, this response has angered Palestinians. Many of them saw Abu Shanab as a moderate within the context of Hamas, and are asking why he would be a target and why he would be a target at this time. By that, I mean the Palestinian Authority just last night approved a plan to dismantle the military wings of Hamas and Islamic Jihad, and we were told by a senior Palestinian official about 20 minutes before this missile strike that plans were well advanced, and that that operation to dismantle these groups would begin within the next day or so.

The missile strike, however, has pushed all of that aside. The Palestinian Authority is saying that all of the decisions that were taken at cabinet meetings in Gaza and Ramallah yesterday and last evening are now off the table.

Now, you mentioned also that Hamas has pulled out of the cease- fire. Some breaking news I can bring you is that another militant group, the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, which is the armed offshoot, if you like, of Yasser Arafat's Fatah movement, it was also in on the cease-fire. No more, Leon. It is out of the cease-fire as well. This group telling us just a matter of a few minutes ago that it will no longer observe the cease-fire, and on the contrary it says that it will strike back as soon as possible.

Developments almost on the hour here, Leon.

HARRIS: So, now we have a promise of the retaliation to come now from this other group, Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigade. Let me ask you this, Michael, because we've been hearing words from the U.N. this morning, where the officials were asked -- Secretary of Colin -- Secretary of State Colin Powell, I should say, was asked directly by the press there whether or not this means we may be at the end of this road map to peace. He says at the end of that road is a cliff over which both of these parties are going to tumble.

Are you getting a gathering sense there that perhaps people there feel that they have reached that cliff, or not?

HOLMES: I think everybody on both sides of this are trying to cling to some hope that something can be salvaged, but I've got to tell you, Leon, it's not looking good. Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian prime minister, who has been trying to hold things together with glue and sticky tape, if you like, he is facing calls within Gaza. Thousands of people were at the hospital, where Abu Shanab's body was taken, and they're calling on him to resign. And a senior -- the military wing of Hamas is now calling on him to not only resign, but leave Palestinian territory.

He was in a delicate position anyway, balanced between Yasser Arafat, balanced between that and the Israeli demands and the American demands. The suicide bombing in West Jerusalem was a serious embarrassment for him, because it took place as he was holding meetings with Islamic Jihad to try to extend the cease-fire. He is a very genuine man, but he is in a very precarious position right now, as, it must be said, is the road map.

After the meeting here in Gaza last night, I have to tell you, Leon, that Colin Powell called Abu Mazen, Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas, and urged him to take steps quickly. Now, that was only a matter of less than 24 hours ago, and the Palestinian Authority said it had approved the dismantling of the organizations, the military wings. Well, this missile strike, the timing of it is hard to understand where that's going to lead the road map. There is a lot of distrust -- Leon.

HARRIS: Very interesting. Very interesting. It also could potentially become very, very dangerous there. Michael Holmes, thank you very much. And, please, as always, be careful. If you hear something else, make sure you get back to us as soon as possible. Michael Holmes in Gaza.

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 August 21, 2003 - 11:01   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: First up this hour in the spiral of violence and the deepening crisis in the Middle East, Israel today fired back against the Palestinian militant group, Hamas, killing one of its leaders. And now, Hamas has declared an end to its cease-fire with Israel.
CNN's Michael Holmes joins us now by videophone. He is in Gaza, which was the scene of that Israeli airstrike -- Michael.

MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Leon, well, it certainly was the scene of this airstrike. We were at the scene within minutes. We were only about half a mile away, when the three -- some people say five missiles fired from Israeli Apache helicopters slammed into the car.

Abu Shanab, a well-known Hamas figure, a senior Hamas official was in the car with two bodyguards. All three of them were killed. It was a gruesome sight, as bystanders pulled the bodies, burnt and injured bodies from the car, and loaded them into ambulances. But they were well and truly dead at that point.

This was the latest twist in a series of violence, bloody developments that have taken place, derailing, if you like, the road map. The most recent, of course, was the bus bombing that took place, carried out by Hamas and Islamic Jihad in West Jerusalem, which left 20 people, including several children, dead.

Now, this response has angered Palestinians. Many of them saw Abu Shanab as a moderate within the context of Hamas, and are asking why he would be a target and why he would be a target at this time. By that, I mean the Palestinian Authority just last night approved a plan to dismantle the military wings of Hamas and Islamic Jihad, and we were told by a senior Palestinian official about 20 minutes before this missile strike that plans were well advanced, and that that operation to dismantle these groups would begin within the next day or so.

The missile strike, however, has pushed all of that aside. The Palestinian Authority is saying that all of the decisions that were taken at cabinet meetings in Gaza and Ramallah yesterday and last evening are now off the table.

Now, you mentioned also that Hamas has pulled out of the cease- fire. Some breaking news I can bring you is that another militant group, the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, which is the armed offshoot, if you like, of Yasser Arafat's Fatah movement, it was also in on the cease-fire. No more, Leon. It is out of the cease-fire as well. This group telling us just a matter of a few minutes ago that it will no longer observe the cease-fire, and on the contrary it says that it will strike back as soon as possible.

Developments almost on the hour here, Leon.

HARRIS: So, now we have a promise of the retaliation to come now from this other group, Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigade. Let me ask you this, Michael, because we've been hearing words from the U.N. this morning, where the officials were asked -- Secretary of Colin -- Secretary of State Colin Powell, I should say, was asked directly by the press there whether or not this means we may be at the end of this road map to peace. He says at the end of that road is a cliff over which both of these parties are going to tumble.

Are you getting a gathering sense there that perhaps people there feel that they have reached that cliff, or not?

HOLMES: I think everybody on both sides of this are trying to cling to some hope that something can be salvaged, but I've got to tell you, Leon, it's not looking good. Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian prime minister, who has been trying to hold things together with glue and sticky tape, if you like, he is facing calls within Gaza. Thousands of people were at the hospital, where Abu Shanab's body was taken, and they're calling on him to resign. And a senior -- the military wing of Hamas is now calling on him to not only resign, but leave Palestinian territory.

He was in a delicate position anyway, balanced between Yasser Arafat, balanced between that and the Israeli demands and the American demands. The suicide bombing in West Jerusalem was a serious embarrassment for him, because it took place as he was holding meetings with Islamic Jihad to try to extend the cease-fire. He is a very genuine man, but he is in a very precarious position right now, as, it must be said, is the road map.

After the meeting here in Gaza last night, I have to tell you, Leon, that Colin Powell called Abu Mazen, Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas, and urged him to take steps quickly. Now, that was only a matter of less than 24 hours ago, and the Palestinian Authority said it had approved the dismantling of the organizations, the military wings. Well, this missile strike, the timing of it is hard to understand where that's going to lead the road map. There is a lot of distrust -- Leon.

HARRIS: Very interesting. Very interesting. It also could potentially become very, very dangerous there. Michael Holmes, thank you very much. And, please, as always, be careful. If you hear something else, make sure you get back to us as soon as possible. Michael Holmes in Gaza.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.