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Palestinians Mourn Death of Hamas Leader

Aired August 22, 2003 - 11:11   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: Mourning mixed with protest on the streets of Gaza today, as thousands of Palestinians turned out to mourn a Hamas leader killed in an Israeli airstrike. And Israel is bracing for possible retaliation in the renewed cycle of violence.
CNN's Michael Holmes joins us now live by way of videophone from Gaza City.

MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Leon.

Yes, the hot, narrow streets of Gaza City packed just a few hours ago with Palestinians, of militant factions, and also many thousands of ordinary civilians. And in the end, the promise of vengeance, coming chiefly from Hamas, but also Islamic jihad.

The chants were uniform in calling for revenge over the death of Ismail Abu Shanab, a man widely respected by many Palestinians as a moderate voice within Hamas, if there can be such a thing, but a man that was said by Israel to have had a hand in many terrorist attacks against Israel. And hence, he was a target of Israeli missiles yesterday. He and two of his bodyguards killed in the streets of Gaza City when their car was hit.

Now, at the funeral today, tens of thousands of people. It was, if not the biggest, certainly one of the biggest funerals to have taken place in the West Bank or Gaza Strip since the intifada began a couple of years ago, and there have been many funerals, as you know.

Now, among the mourners at the funeral there were some members of the Palestinian Authority, including one minister. Hamas officials were there, too, Leon. And what was interesting was that there was a lot of security for them. We saw Hamas leaders changing cars, for example. One Hamas leader was wearing a blue cap, as were at least 10 people standing around him, clearly trying to avoid the same fate of Ismail Abu Shanab.

The Hamas, of course, having called off the cease-fire, says it will continue and restart actions against Israel. Israel says it will do likewise to Hamas. So, certainly the cycle continues, Leon, and a very, very uncertain and tense environment in this part of the world.

HARRIS: Well, Michael, as you know, adding to the tensions are these calls for the Palestinian Authority's prime minister, Mahmoud Abbas, to resign. How serious are these calls?

HOLMES: Well, he has threatened to do so himself in his past when he'd reached an impasse with the Palestinian president, Yasser Arafat. There was a report that he was going to resign if Yasser Arafat didn't sign off two nights ago on the plan to crack down on Hamas and Islamic Jihad's military wing that he brought to Yasser Arafat. And there was a very loud cabinet meeting going on, and Yasser Arafat, we are told, eventually did sign off on that.

Mahmoud Abbas, though, is been weakened, it has to be said, by both the Jerusalem bus bombing -- which, of course, happened as he was holding a meeting with Islamic Jihad -- and also by the events that led to the death of Ismail Abu Shanab. It certainly doesn't help his standing, particularly in Gaza when a popular Hamas leader is killed in this fashion.

The people here, and particularly supporters of Hamas, and there are many, are saying that he should call off all talks with Israel. One Hamas leader yesterday said, Mahmoud Abbas should leave Palestinian land -- Leon.

HARRIS: Michael Holmes reporting live from Gaza City by way of videophone. Michael, thank you very much for that, and we urge you again to be careful, and check back in with us the minute you hear something new there.

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 22, 2003 - 11:11   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Mourning mixed with protest on the streets of Gaza today, as thousands of Palestinians turned out to mourn a Hamas leader killed in an Israeli airstrike. And Israel is bracing for possible retaliation in the renewed cycle of violence.
CNN's Michael Holmes joins us now live by way of videophone from Gaza City.

MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Leon.

Yes, the hot, narrow streets of Gaza City packed just a few hours ago with Palestinians, of militant factions, and also many thousands of ordinary civilians. And in the end, the promise of vengeance, coming chiefly from Hamas, but also Islamic jihad.

The chants were uniform in calling for revenge over the death of Ismail Abu Shanab, a man widely respected by many Palestinians as a moderate voice within Hamas, if there can be such a thing, but a man that was said by Israel to have had a hand in many terrorist attacks against Israel. And hence, he was a target of Israeli missiles yesterday. He and two of his bodyguards killed in the streets of Gaza City when their car was hit.

Now, at the funeral today, tens of thousands of people. It was, if not the biggest, certainly one of the biggest funerals to have taken place in the West Bank or Gaza Strip since the intifada began a couple of years ago, and there have been many funerals, as you know.

Now, among the mourners at the funeral there were some members of the Palestinian Authority, including one minister. Hamas officials were there, too, Leon. And what was interesting was that there was a lot of security for them. We saw Hamas leaders changing cars, for example. One Hamas leader was wearing a blue cap, as were at least 10 people standing around him, clearly trying to avoid the same fate of Ismail Abu Shanab.

The Hamas, of course, having called off the cease-fire, says it will continue and restart actions against Israel. Israel says it will do likewise to Hamas. So, certainly the cycle continues, Leon, and a very, very uncertain and tense environment in this part of the world.

HARRIS: Well, Michael, as you know, adding to the tensions are these calls for the Palestinian Authority's prime minister, Mahmoud Abbas, to resign. How serious are these calls?

HOLMES: Well, he has threatened to do so himself in his past when he'd reached an impasse with the Palestinian president, Yasser Arafat. There was a report that he was going to resign if Yasser Arafat didn't sign off two nights ago on the plan to crack down on Hamas and Islamic Jihad's military wing that he brought to Yasser Arafat. And there was a very loud cabinet meeting going on, and Yasser Arafat, we are told, eventually did sign off on that.

Mahmoud Abbas, though, is been weakened, it has to be said, by both the Jerusalem bus bombing -- which, of course, happened as he was holding a meeting with Islamic Jihad -- and also by the events that led to the death of Ismail Abu Shanab. It certainly doesn't help his standing, particularly in Gaza when a popular Hamas leader is killed in this fashion.

The people here, and particularly supporters of Hamas, and there are many, are saying that he should call off all talks with Israel. One Hamas leader yesterday said, Mahmoud Abbas should leave Palestinian land -- Leon.

HARRIS: Michael Holmes reporting live from Gaza City by way of videophone. Michael, thank you very much for that, and we urge you again to be careful, and check back in with us the minute you hear something new there.

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