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CNN Live At Daybreak
Palestinian Militant Group Hamas Vowing Revenge
Aired October 21, 2003 - 05:05 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: In the Middle East, the Palestinian militant group Hamas is vowing revenge after Israeli air strikes killed 12 people and injured more than 100.
Live to Jerusalem now and Jerrold Kessel -- hello, Jerrold.
JERROLD KESSEL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Carol.
Not a good morning here in the Middle East. Amid anger, intense anger among Palestinians, questioning among Israelis after a day of intense air activity by the Israeli Air Force over Gaza. Five strikes in all, leaving 12 Palestinians killed and scores wounded in those Israeli air strikes.
And a lot of questioning about the nature of the Israeli strikes, using missiles in built up areas. But the most controversial of the strikes came last night when the Israeli Air Force -- the Israeli Army saying that the pilots of its helicopters targeted a car which was carrying militants on their way to carry out an attack mission against Israeli villagers just outside Gaza. The helicopters tracked the car, shot one missile, killed some of those inside, say the Israelis.
But then, the most controversial aspect was when a crowd was gathered around that same car. There is a dispute over how long it took for the second missile to be shot. There was a second missile and that's when most of the casualties occurred. Not clear exactly how many of them were, in fact, militants from Hamas, how many of them civilians. The Palestinians reporting at least one child killed and one doctor who was treating the wounded in that attack.
So a lot of intense anger in Gaza and today, as the Palestinians down there bury the dead, there have been three killed in an earlier attack. All told, 12 died in the Israeli attacks yesterday. Israel bracing for the possibility that Hamas and the other militant Palestinian organizations will try to strike back with intense revenge operations, suicide bombings and the like. Israel on the alert -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Yes, there seem to be little doubt that something might happen.
What might Israel do next? Will it continue to do this?
KESSEL: Well, yes, I think so, because the Israelis are adamant that they are engaged in an ongoing war with the militant organizations like Hamas and Islamic Jihad, and that even if they do initiate operations, really, they are preempting it all and trying to forestall the Palestinian militant groups from those militant Islamic organizations from striking at Israel.
So Israel sees this as an ongoing battle. This just one element in it. Whether there is controversy over the nature of the actions or not, there seems to be no doubt that the Israeli military will continue trying to target the militants wherever they can, despite this negative fallout from the fact that many civilian bystanders were killed or wounded, it seems, in that operation to stop the militants yesterday -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Jerrold Kessel reporting live for us from Jerusalem this morning.
We've got a look at the crisis on our Web site, the key players, a map of the region. It's all there. Cnn.com/world, 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 October 21, 2003 - 05:05 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: In the Middle East, the Palestinian militant group Hamas is vowing revenge after Israeli air strikes killed 12 people and injured more than 100.
Live to Jerusalem now and Jerrold Kessel -- hello, Jerrold.
JERROLD KESSEL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Carol.
Not a good morning here in the Middle East. Amid anger, intense anger among Palestinians, questioning among Israelis after a day of intense air activity by the Israeli Air Force over Gaza. Five strikes in all, leaving 12 Palestinians killed and scores wounded in those Israeli air strikes.
And a lot of questioning about the nature of the Israeli strikes, using missiles in built up areas. But the most controversial of the strikes came last night when the Israeli Air Force -- the Israeli Army saying that the pilots of its helicopters targeted a car which was carrying militants on their way to carry out an attack mission against Israeli villagers just outside Gaza. The helicopters tracked the car, shot one missile, killed some of those inside, say the Israelis.
But then, the most controversial aspect was when a crowd was gathered around that same car. There is a dispute over how long it took for the second missile to be shot. There was a second missile and that's when most of the casualties occurred. Not clear exactly how many of them were, in fact, militants from Hamas, how many of them civilians. The Palestinians reporting at least one child killed and one doctor who was treating the wounded in that attack.
So a lot of intense anger in Gaza and today, as the Palestinians down there bury the dead, there have been three killed in an earlier attack. All told, 12 died in the Israeli attacks yesterday. Israel bracing for the possibility that Hamas and the other militant Palestinian organizations will try to strike back with intense revenge operations, suicide bombings and the like. Israel on the alert -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Yes, there seem to be little doubt that something might happen.
What might Israel do next? Will it continue to do this?
KESSEL: Well, yes, I think so, because the Israelis are adamant that they are engaged in an ongoing war with the militant organizations like Hamas and Islamic Jihad, and that even if they do initiate operations, really, they are preempting it all and trying to forestall the Palestinian militant groups from those militant Islamic organizations from striking at Israel.
So Israel sees this as an ongoing battle. This just one element in it. Whether there is controversy over the nature of the actions or not, there seems to be no doubt that the Israeli military will continue trying to target the militants wherever they can, despite this negative fallout from the fact that many civilian bystanders were killed or wounded, it seems, in that operation to stop the militants yesterday -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Jerrold Kessel reporting live for us from Jerusalem this morning.
We've got a look at the crisis on our Web site, the key players, a map of the region. It's all there. Cnn.com/world, 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
