Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Live Sunday
Mideast Militants Threaten More Clashes With Authorities
Aired August 24, 2003 - 11:07 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.
JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR: We'll go now to the Middle East, where the Palestinian Authority's beginning to close tunnels which were being used to smuggle weapons from Egypt to Gaza. And on top of that, the militants now threatening more clashes against authorities. CNN's Michael Holmes joins us now from Gaza via the videophone.
Michael, what's happening on the ground there in the last 24 hours?
MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Been a bit of activity, John. First of all, from the Israeli side, they went into the West Bank city of Nablus and found a bomb-making factory there. And took out 80 kilograms of explosives as well as a couple of explosive devices that could be used on the infamous Kasam rocket.
Speaking of Kasam rockets, one of the new versions of that rocket, the Kasam-2, which is a homemade rocket fueled by things like fertilizer and alcohol, went the furthest into the Israeli territory than any other Kasam has gone. It went some five miles inside Israel just short of the towns.
Meanwhile, positive signs from the Palestinian authority side. Their police force went into action in a town that borders Gaza and Egypt and for the longest time has been a source of gun running and the like, mainly through tunnels under there. Israeli troops routinely destroy them. Last night and today, it was Palestinian police that did so. There was a minor incident of Palestinians throwing rocks at the police, but all in all, their actions were well received on the ground.
So perhaps the Palestinian authority saying, look, we are trying to do something here. I spoke to a senior security source who said this is just the tip of the iceberg. Well, Israel says it better be, if the Palestinian authority doesn't move on the more difficult issues of the militant wings of Hamas and Islamic Jihad, Israel says it will. John?
VAUSE: Obviously some movement on the ground there, closing down those tunnels which has been an issue for quite some time with Israel. But is there any indication that the Palestinian authority, with Mahmoud Abbas as the prime minister there, actually moving towards cracking down on the militant groups. And those militant groups calling for Mahmoud Abbas to leave the territories.
HOLMES: Indeed. He is in a very, very difficult position. He's between a rock and a hard place at the moment. He has to act according to Israel and the United States on Hamas and Islamic Jihad's military wings, but if he doesn't Israel will. Either way, he's going to look bad on the street, and so he's in a politically extremely difficult position and all of this is going to unfold in a matter of days, John.
VAUSE: CNN's Michael Holmes reporting for us live on the videophone there from Gaza City. Thank you, Michael.
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 24, 2003 - 11:07 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR: We'll go now to the Middle East, where the Palestinian Authority's beginning to close tunnels which were being used to smuggle weapons from Egypt to Gaza. And on top of that, the militants now threatening more clashes against authorities. CNN's Michael Holmes joins us now from Gaza via the videophone.
Michael, what's happening on the ground there in the last 24 hours?
MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Been a bit of activity, John. First of all, from the Israeli side, they went into the West Bank city of Nablus and found a bomb-making factory there. And took out 80 kilograms of explosives as well as a couple of explosive devices that could be used on the infamous Kasam rocket.
Speaking of Kasam rockets, one of the new versions of that rocket, the Kasam-2, which is a homemade rocket fueled by things like fertilizer and alcohol, went the furthest into the Israeli territory than any other Kasam has gone. It went some five miles inside Israel just short of the towns.
Meanwhile, positive signs from the Palestinian authority side. Their police force went into action in a town that borders Gaza and Egypt and for the longest time has been a source of gun running and the like, mainly through tunnels under there. Israeli troops routinely destroy them. Last night and today, it was Palestinian police that did so. There was a minor incident of Palestinians throwing rocks at the police, but all in all, their actions were well received on the ground.
So perhaps the Palestinian authority saying, look, we are trying to do something here. I spoke to a senior security source who said this is just the tip of the iceberg. Well, Israel says it better be, if the Palestinian authority doesn't move on the more difficult issues of the militant wings of Hamas and Islamic Jihad, Israel says it will. John?
VAUSE: Obviously some movement on the ground there, closing down those tunnels which has been an issue for quite some time with Israel. But is there any indication that the Palestinian authority, with Mahmoud Abbas as the prime minister there, actually moving towards cracking down on the militant groups. And those militant groups calling for Mahmoud Abbas to leave the territories.
HOLMES: Indeed. He is in a very, very difficult position. He's between a rock and a hard place at the moment. He has to act according to Israel and the United States on Hamas and Islamic Jihad's military wings, but if he doesn't Israel will. Either way, he's going to look bad on the street, and so he's in a politically extremely difficult position and all of this is going to unfold in a matter of days, John.
VAUSE: CNN's Michael Holmes reporting for us live on the videophone there from Gaza City. Thank you, Michael.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
