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Your World Today

Middle East Crisis; Israeli Prime Minister Addresses the Knesset

Aired July 17, 2006 - 12:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KOFI ANNAN, U.N. SECRETARY-GENERAL: As the prime minister said, we need to find ways of bringing this to a halt.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Diplomats calling for a cease-fire in the Middle East, but will their pleas pierce the fog of war?

RALITSA VASSILEVA, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: And an unusually candid conversation about the Middle East conflict caught on tape.

Hello and welcome. I'm Ralitsa Vassileva.

HOLMES: And I'm Michael Holmes.

From Beirut to Baghdad, this is YOUR WORLD TODAY.

All right. You're looking at a live picture coming to us from Israel. We're waiting to hear the Israeli prime minister, Ehud Olmert, speak to the Israeli parliament, the Knesset. When he begins to speak -- it's going to be a very important speech, too -- we will bring it to you live.

All right. Meanwhile, Israel is talking of a buffer zone as it continues to pound Lebanon. Hezbollah responding with its own force while a Hezbollah supporter speaks of cease-fire.

VASSILEVA: We have many developments to bring you in the Middle East crisis.

Here is the latest.

HOLMES: Israel says it will create a buffer zone in southern Lebanon, as it has done before, to protect against further Hezbollah attacks. Dozens of rockets fell in northern Israel on Monday, including Haifa.

VASSILEVA: Israeli warplanes are bombing new targets across Lebanon, from southern Beirut, to coastal ports, to northern army barracks.

HOLMES: The U.N.'s top relief official says a humanitarian crisis is looming in Lebanon as the death toll hits at least 165, most of them civilians, and more civilian infrastructure is destroyed. Twenty-four Israelis have also died since the offensive began.

VASSILEVA: Many countries are evacuating their citizens. This British helicopter took those most in need to Cyprus.

HOLMES: And tens of thousands of Syrians protested the Israeli offensive as Damascus hosted Iran's foreign minister. He said a cease-fire, followed by a prisoner swap, would be, in his words, acceptable and fair.

VASSILEVA: We have reporters deployed across the Middle East covering the crisis, from Israel, to Lebanon, to Syria and Gaza.

We begin our coverage in northern Israel, where air raid sirens have been going off throughout the day.

Our John Vause is along the border with Lebanon. We cannot give his exact location for security reasons. He joins us now live with an update.

John, what is the situation?

JOHN VAUSE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Ralitsa, just moments ago, the artillery crews here were called once again to their howitzers, which indicates that there will be another barrage of shelling into southern Lebanon. Israel says that it now wants to wipe out those Hezbollah positions, but despite the bombardment both by land and by aerial assault, those rockets keep coming.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE (voice over): Hour after hour, day after day, for almost a week now, these Israeli howitzers have pounded southern Lebanon, while warplanes and helicopters attack from the air.

Just across the border, the impact is devastating. Lebanese civilians are dying. Homes, buildings and bridges destroyed.

The Israelis are aiming for mobile rocket launchers like these: small, quick to set up, hard to hit.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Wherever you see Katyusha rockets launched from Lebanon, we actually can see it here as a target. So these people here -- actually, the artillery, are shooting exactly to the place that's been shot from in Lebanon.

VAUSE: But there's little Israel can do once the Katyushas are in the air. About a thousand Hezbollah rockets have hit Israeli towns and cities. Kryat Shmona is right on the front lines, and life here has come to a standstill. For a few hours, residents come up for air. They spend most of the day...

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: All right. We leave John's report there briefly because we are going to take you now to Israel, where the Israeli prime minister, Ehud Olmert, is addressing the nation. Let's listen in.

(JOINED IN PROGRESS)

EHUD OLMERT, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER (through translator): ... sending condolences on behalf of myself, the government, the Knesset, and the entire Israeli people to the families of those who have been killed among the civilian population and among the soldiers of the Israeli defense forces. And I wish a complete recovery to everyone who's been injured, and I send our warmest embraces to the families of those who have been kidnapped and to the soldiers themselves.

In recent weeks, our enemies have challenged the sovereignty of the state of Israel and the tranquility of its residents, starting in the south, and then on the northern border, and deeper to the home front of our country. Israel did not ask for these confrontations. On the contrary, we did -- we have done a great deal in order to prevent them.

We returned to the borders of the state of Israel as recognized the entire international community. There were those who interpreted our wish for peace for us and for our neighbors as a sign of weakness. Our enemies made the mistake of believing that our willingness to act with restraint was a sign of weakness.

They were wrong.

Madam Speaker, members of the Knesset, the state of Israel has no territorial conflict not on our southern and not on our northern border in these two sectors. We are sitting on the recognized international border. This is the situation with regard the Palestinian Authority in Gaza, and this is the situation with regard to Lebanon.

We have no intention of interfering in their internal affairs. Quite the opposite. The stability and tranquility of a free Lebanon, free of foreign forces and an independently-run Palestinian Authority is something that Israel wishes for. And we do hope very much that a proper covenant and truce will come about -- a treaty will come about to the benefits of our people on the both sides of the borders, as the battle that we're currently waging is against terrorists organizations acting out of Lebanon and Gaza, and they are simply the subcontractors working with the encouragement and financing of regimes that support terrorism and oppose peace on the axis of evil that stretches from Tehran to Damascus.

Lebanon in the past has suffered very grievously when it invited foreign forces to play with its destiny. Iran and Syria are still continuing by remote control to interfere in Palestinian and Lebanese affairs through Hezbollah and Hamas.

Even if the criminal attack on an Israeli patrol last week was not carried out on the initiative of the Lebanese government, we cannot deny -- it cannot deny that this -- it was partly responsible for this operation which was carried out from its sovereign territory, just as -- even if the chairman of the Palestinian Authority denounces terrorist activity against the state of Israel. Nevertheless, he cannot in that way divest himself the responsibility for such attacks carried out from the Palestinian Authority territory.

They are both responsible for the kidnapping of our soldiers who have been taken as hostages. Extreme bodies, terrorists, persons of violence are disrupting the tranquility of the whole area and putting its stability at risk.

These murderous terrorist organizations represent a threat, and it is both a regional and international responsibility to control them and put an end to their activities. Most of the international community is supporting our struggle against terrorism and our efforts to remove this threat from the Middle East.

We intend to do so. We shall continue acting with full intensity in order to achieve this. With regard to the Palestinians, we shall act indefatigably until terrorism is put to an end, until Gilad Shalit is brought home safely, and the Kassam rockets cease to fall.

And in Lebanon, we will struggle to ensure that the decisions taken by the international community a long time ago are put into practice. And this was supported yesterday by the G-8, bringing home Ehud Govasel (ph) and Edad Regev (ph). Bringing home the soldiers, complete peace and quiet, removing Hezbollah from the area, putting into force U.N. Resolution 1559.

We will not put an end to our operations. On both fronts we are talking about actions of self-defense in the most essential and basic nature.

In both cases, what is being done exceeds by far the scope of the unit station there. This is a moment of vital importance to our national existence.

Are we to throw up our hands and give in to the threats from the axis of evil, or do we stand fast and show a cool head? Our response is known to every single citizen of this country. And it reverberates today in the entire region.

We shall seek out every single site, we shall hunt down every single terrorist who is threatening Israel. We shall destroy all of the infrastructure of terrorism. We should do this until Hezbollah and Hamas do the basic and decent thing that they're asked to do, demanded -- that is demanded of them by every single civilized person. Israel will not agree to live in the shadow of the threat of the rockets, missiles directed at its citizens.

My fellow Israelis, there are moments in the life of a people when it has to look at the present reality and say, this far and no further. And I say to everybody, this far and no further.

Israel will not be the placing, not of terrorist organizations, not of a terrorist authority, and not of any sovereign state. In the life of a people, there are such moments where one has to take stock of the situation and when (INAUDIBLE) and that which defies give way to feelings of common and shared responsibility. And I very greatly respect and appreciate and esteem the way in which the heads of the opposition are acting in the Knesset at the moment.

The human competition, personal rivalries just fade away and dissipate. And instead, the feeling of responsibility for each other come in their place, our partnership, our corporation and, above all, our infinite love for our people, and for our country, our land.

And this is how things are in this moment.

All of us Jews, Muslims, Christians, Druze and Circassians are now standing as one single individual, as one single people in the face of the evil and the hatred. And we are fighting it by consent and shoulder to shoulder.

When missiles rain down on our cities, our response will be to wage war with even greater determination. And we will show the willingness to make sacrifices for which these people are famous.

There is no other people who wish more for peace and tranquility in the north, in the south, in the center. We wish for peace. We pursue peace. We aspire to peace. We dream of peace. But, to the same extent, there's nothing that we reject more forcefully and more robustly than the attempt to harm us and make us give up our right to live here in our land in security and in peace.

On behalf of the people in Israel, on behalf of all the residents of the country, I have come here today, Madam Speaker, in order to announce to the people and to the world we do not seek war or a head- on confrontation. But, if necessary, we shall not flinch from them.

Only a people who is able to defend its freedom really deserves it. We deserve our freedom. And when it is necessary, we know how to fight for it and to defend it.

My fellow friends and members of the Knesset, the strength of the state of Israel is based on the force and the capacity of the Israel defense forces, the idea this is our guarantor of being able to live in this country. And our best human and financial resources that Israeli society can muster have been invested in the idea.

From this podium, I wish to send my heartfelt -- heartfelt thanks of those of the government and the appreciation and thanks of the Israeli people to the IDF, to its men, to its commanders, to the security forces, to the police forces, to the emergency rescue forces, to the fire brigades and the other security forces.

And now, I wish to read out from a prayer that millions of people in Israel say for the safety of those who defend our country from the Lebanese border to the south, from the Jordan, to the Mediterranean, on dry land and on the sea.

May you confound the plans of those who rise up against us. May the almighty, blessed be he, save our armed forces from all curse and pestilence and harm.

May he send down his blessing on them. May he send his blessings on them, and may he cause his salvation to come upon them. And may they be victorious.

The strength of a people is not measured by its military power only. It is also measured through its ethics, through it's morality, through a strong and stable economy, a modern and developing industry, through products that can make their way in the international market, and through a pioneering academic world.

And for all of these reasons, we have grounds to be proud. But above all of this, the strength of this state is measured in times of tests when the home front becomes the front, when all of the citizens can show steadfastness, stamina and fortitude of an admiral nature, and can continue to operate in the teeth of the enemy.

I have been witness in previous years when I was mayor of Jerusalem of what our Jerusalem citizens could do. For many years, we were subjected to murderous terrorist attacks. The patience, the ability to grit their teeth on the part of Jerusalem citizens and those of the whole country are an exemplary illustration.

And I remember talking to Rudy Giuliani, the mayor of New York, during the September 2001 attacks, and I called up to strengthen him after the terrible attacks there. And he said to me, "Ehud, if the New Yorkers can stand up to this the way you Jerusalemites do, then we will beat terrorism."

Madam Speaker, Ladies and Gentlemen, members of the house, my fellow Israelis, during these days as well, hundreds of thousands of Israelis are right up on the front line like soldiers, on the battlefield fighting for our existence and our honor. It is clear to us that, given the conditions that have been imposed on us, we must address and deal with all the special conditions that have been brought about in every single fashion.

The government will instantly provide help in every single location. The government of Israel, under my leadership, is strengthened by the strength of the Israeli public.

We are a determined and brave people. I am proud today, perhaps prouder than ever before in my life, to be an Israeli citizen.

It is because of you that our enemy are encountering a people who are unified, who are united, standing shoulder to shoulder. We are not frightened. We are not downtrodden. We are not crestfallen, because we are fighting for the right to normal life like any individual. Like any people. Like any country and any state.

We are -- we are fighting for the right of our children like Olmer Pashav (ph) who was 7 when he was killed. And he was 7 a couple of days ago, from Nahariya, who wanted to go and visit his grandmother. He wanted to go visit her and eat her Sabbath meal with her.

And we are fighting for the right of Israelis like Shmoel ben Shimon (ph), who was also killed. He was age 44. He was from Yakneam (ph) and he went out every single morning to work at the Haifa railway depot in order to make a livelihood for his wife, Natalie (ph), and his small children. He has been killed.

We are fighting for the rights of Israelis like Monica Lerad (ph), who has been killed. She was 40. She was drinking a cup of coffee on her veranda in a country to which she came to live from Argentina.

And we're fighting for the right of young girls like Ella Abertis (ph), who's been killed. She was 13. She's from Sterot (ph) -- to play the flute and to read books, like Ella (ph) loved to do.

We are fighting for what every single person in the enlightened world considers to be something that goes without saying, something that no one has to fight for, the right to have a normal life. This is a difficult fight. A difficult struggle. Perhaps it will become even more difficult.

This is a very painful test. And perhaps we will have to endure extra blows.

Such a world is never an easy one. It involves casualties, people who will be killed and people who will be injured. But we have no intention of giving up our wish to live a normal life.

We will not give up our wish to do this. And we don't intend to ask anyone to endorse our right to fight for this.

My fellow Israelis, we are going through a time of test for all of us. Israel has faced far more complexes and challenges and has come out on top. We have always been able to summon our mental reserves, our reason, our patience, our forbearance and our stamina in order to overcome our enemies.

And lastly, I would like to make a personal comment from here and speak personally to the Shalit, Govasel (ph) and Regev (ph) families, the families of the soldiers who are being held hostage by Hamas and Hezbollah.

I think about you all the time. And above all, about your children. Our children.

Last Wednesday, just five days ago, at 10:00 in the morning, Aviva (ph) and Noam Shalit (ph) were sitting in my office. They, like myself, more than anything want Gilad to come home. And while we weren't talking about what and how, I received the very sad news that Ehud Udi Govasel (ph) and Edad Regev (ph) had been kidnapped, and I passed that sad news on to the Shalit family.

When I left the office, Aviva (ph) and Noam (ph) pressed into my hands the last picture of Gilad that was taken just before he was kidnapped. Very sadly, today, there are three pictures of these boys in my office. And very often in the course of the day I look at them.

I look at their eyes. I look into their eyes. And I bring them into my innermost heart.

I never, never forget them. They were there on behalf of us. In our name. And for our sake.

We shall do everything, and we'll act with all our might to bring them home. We should do that in such a way that when they come home, it will not be in accordance with patents that will lead to further kidnappings. There's practically no one who can understand where you -- these three families stand.

Even if people don't speak directly about this, I feel and hear what you want to tell me. And I embrace you with love, with understanding, and with agreement.

Where I stand ultimately forces me to take decisions which are fateful ones, which lead to risks and harm and sometimes to death. I don't have any strength other that that which you have given me. I have no more force than that which you give me, which the almighty has given me to stand up to these trying times.

Madam Speaker, I see before me those who have been kidnapped, those who are on the firing lines, those who are determined today, but, god forbid, might tomorrow be kidnapped. We shall protect and defend everybody. We should fight on behalf of everybody. And when everybody, the citizens on the firing lines, the fighters, and the families, with all of those before us, we will continue without flinching, with determination, until we achieve our aims.

I wish to conclude my address by reading from the book of Jeremiah the prophet.

"'Thus,' said the lord, 'may my voice be heard. Be consoled.'"

"'Rachel, weeping for her children, may she be consoled for her child whom she has lost.'"

"The lord says, 'May your voice cease crying, and may your tears dry up, because you will return from your land and the children shall return to within your borders. We shall overcome.'"

HOLMES: Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert there addressing the Knesset, the Israeli parliament, saying that this offensive will continue, saying, "We shall hunt down every terrorist. We shall destroy every infrastructure of terrorists." He said Israel will not agree to live in the shadow of the threat of rockets and missiles directed at its citizens, referring at various stages both to what's going on with Hezbollah, in southern Lebanon, northern Israel, but also what's going on with Hamas in Gaza. He said there are moments in the life of a people where it has to look at the present reality and say, this far and no further. And I say to everybody, he said, "This far and no further." He said that the battle that is being waged out of Lebanon and Gaza, speaking obviously about Hezbollah and Hamas. He said that they are working, those groups, on behalf of the axis of evil, which stretches from Iran to Damascus.

Also saying in response to those who say the Lebanese government itself is largely impotent to control and reign in Hezbollah, he says the Lebanese government can not deny that was partly responsible for what's going on, because it hadn't disarmed Hezbollah, and deployed its army along its southern border, as demanded by a U.N. resolution. Benjamin Netanyahu, former prime minister, speaker there at the Knesset -- Ralitsa.

VASSILEVA: Well, Michael, as Mr. Olmert was making his speech to the Knesset, the Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora, was also speaking. We see Dominique De Villepin, the French prime minister, at his side in Beirut. We will take a short break.

When we come back, we'll bring you a part of those statements. Let's listen in.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: Welcome back to YOUR WORLD TODAY. I'm Michael Holmes, along Ralitsa Vassivela, as you look at live pictures coming from Lebanese Broadcasting Corporation.

VASSILEVA: What we're seeing are pictures from the southern suburbs of the Lebanese capital. We see smoke rising. We have reports of missiles that have hit this predominantly Shiite neighborhood and part of the Lebanese capital, Beirut.

HOLMES: These are the suburbs that Hezbollah are particularly strong in, the suburbs from which, Israel claims, many of the Katyusha and other rockets are being fired into many northern Israeli towns. Now this is a densely populated area. The targets from which these missiles are being fired into northern Israel are among residences. They're some fired from residences. And Israel has said many times, it will not hesitate to strike, despite the proximity of civilians.

VASSILEVA: And there have been leaflets that have dropped over the area several times to warn people to leave. But as you said, it's a very densely populated area.

HOLMES: Some people don't have the option to leave. But many actually left. But many have not been able to.

Meanwhile, Israeli war planes have raided more targets, apart from what we've just seen, right across Lebanon, from southern ports to army barracks in the north. At least 17 more people were killed in Monday's attack. Lebanese say at least 165 people have now been killed. More than 400 injured in the past six days, the vast majority of them civilians.

VASSILEVA: Israel says it intends to create a buffer zone in southern Lebanon to stop Hezbollah attacks. Volleys of Hezbollah rockets sent residents of a northern Israeli town into shelters. In Haifa, part of a building collapse, injuring seven people. Israeli military sources say 24 people have been killed in the Israel/Hezbollah conflict so far.

As Ralitsa said just before the break, Lebanese and the French prime minister has been meeting in Beirut, about this crisis of course, and they just spoke with reporters. Here's the sum of what the Lebanese prime minister had to say. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FOUAD SINIORA, LEBANESE PRIME MINISTER (through translator): France is the first friend of Lebanon because of the historic and good relationship between Lebanon and France. And we have a good friendship with the President Chirac, and this visit was dear to every Lebanese, and we send to President Chirac a salute and a greeting for this step that he's making to support Lebanon, and to initiate -- to work to do everything possible to support Lebanon, and to have Lebanon saved out of this gate of hell and craziness that Israel is committing on a peaceful country, Lebanon.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VASSILEVA: That was a statement by the Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora, just shortly addressing the crisis. The Group of Eight also issued a carefully-worded statement, blaming extremists for triggering the violence in the Middle East, and calling for an end to attacks by both sides. But they avoided using the word "cease-fire."

Meanwhile, during a photo-opportunity session, an open microphone picked up a colorful exchange between British Prime Minister Tony Blair and U.S. President George W. Bush.

Suzanne Malveaux explains what exactly happened.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): At the conclusion of the G-8 summit, it was a picture of unity. The leaders of the world's richest nations issuing a statement, seemingly in lockstep, on confronting the Middle East crisis.

But a rare behind-the-scenes moment captures the statement of raw diplomacy. During a lunch-in photo-op, with microphones set on the tables, the candid conversations of the world's most powerful leaders were being transmitted, unbeknownst to them.

Most notably between President Bush and his closest ally, British Prime Minister Tony Blair.

Earlier in the day, Blair and U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan publicly rolled out a plan...

KOFI ANNAN, U.N. SECY.-GENERAL: Extremely concerned about the situation.

MALVEAUX: ... to send international forces to help end the cross-border attacks between Hezbollah and Israel.

Privately President Bush expresses frustration:

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRES. OF THE UNITED STATES: What about Kofi Annan?

I don't like the sequence of it. His attitude is basically cease-fire and everything else happens.

TONY BLAIR, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: I think the thing that is really difficult is you can't stop this unless you get this international presence agreed.

MALVEAUX: Publicly President Bush has condemned Syria and Iran for supporting Hezbollah's strikes against Israel. But privately he failed to convince the other G-8 leaders to make the same judgment in their group statement.

Mr. Bush urges the U.N. to do more, specifically calling for Annan to reach out to Syria's leaders Bashar Al-Assad in fairly explicit terms.

BUSH: See, the irony is what they need to do is get Syria to get Hezbollah to stop doing this shit and it's over.

BLAIR: Cause I think this is all part of the same thing. What does he think? He thinks if Lebanon turns out fine, if he gets a solution in Israel and Palestine, Iraq goes in the right way, he's done it. That's what this whole thin's about. It's the same with Iran.

BUSH: I feel like telling Kofi to get on the phone with Assad and make something happen.

MALVEAUX: At this point, Blair realizes their conversation is being picked up and turns off the microphone.

But Blair is asked about their candid talks, including Mr. Bush's cursing, at a press conference later on.

Not missing a beat, Blair is back on message.

TONY BLAIR, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: While the president was saying what I'm saying, is that everybody around the table, should use his influence on Syria to try to get this to stop.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MALVEAUX: A White House spokesman says while President Bush's private comments may be more blunt, that they are consistent with what he has said publicly in calling for peace in the Middle East. Suzanne Malveaux, CNN, St. Petersburg, Russia.

VASSILEVA: Well Iran's foreign minister says a cease fire is possible in resolving the conflict. Manoucher Mottaki spoke after meeting top officials in Syria. The two nations are considered the main backers of Hezbollah, a Lebanese-based group at the core of the conflict with Israel. Mottaki also said a truce, followed by a prisoner swap, would be a fair way in his words to end the fighting.

HOLMES: Well for more on that, other developments also, let's go via broadband to Hala Gorani. She is in the Syrian capital. Hala, bring us up to date from your perspective there. HALA GORANI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well we heard in that interesting CCTV footage from the G8 summit, the U.S. president, George W. Bush there, telling the U.K. prime minister, Tony Blair, that things would get better if Syria simply exerted some influence over Hezbollah in southern Lebanon.

Well the view from Damascus, Michael, is very different. I spoke to a cabinet official a bit earlier who told me that Kyriet (ph) does not have such influence over the militant group. I started by asking Bouthaina Shaaban, I started by asking her about claims made yesterday that some of the missiles that hit Israel that were fired by Hezbollah were made in Syria. This is how she answered.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BOUTHAINA SHAABAN, SYRIAN MINISTER OF EXPATRIATES: Syria doesn't make missiles. And of course Israel throw accusations here. And the reality of the situation is that Israel is destroying the infrastructure in Lebanon, bridges and airports and ports, only to try and teach Arabs and Muslims a lesson, that there should be no resistance to Israeli occupation.

GORANI: There are also other claims that the Israeli ambassador to the United States made that weaponry coming from Iran transits through Syria to the Hezbollah leadership in southern Lebanon. Is that true?

SHAABAN: Well this is a very old story that Israelis have been been saying. And they were not able to prove it at any time that this true. It's not -- the story really is that Israel's occupation of Arab territories has to be end. And Arab prisoners have to be left. And that is the real reason of the explosion.

GORANI: So you deny this?

SHAABAN: Of course, of course.

GORANI: It's absolutely untrue? Is there concerns among Syrian officials that Syria is the next front of this latest war?

SHAABAN: Well, I think there is a concern all over the Arab world that what Israel is doing is to try and frighten the Arabs by its military force. And I think what the end result is that the Arabs are no longer afraid and I think the Arabs now believe that resistance to occupation is the duty of every Arab person. And no matter what Israel might destroy, we will always be here.

GORANI: So is there -- if there is concern, then there must be a plan that's being discussed for -- in case this happens. In case the Israeli military targets Syrian territory, what is the plan of the Syrian government?

SHAABAN: Well I don't know what is the plan because that will be a military plan. But I'm sure if Israel attacks Syria, Syria is going to respond.

GORANI: How?

SHAABAN: Well it's going to respond in kind.

GORANI: So you think what Hezbollah did by kidnapping those soldiers was the right thing?

SHAABAN: Well it was the reaction to the many Israeli violations.

GORANI: In this case, there was no Israeli violation of southern Lebanon.

SHAABAN: Well there were hundreds of Israeli violation. The problem is that the west only hears about what Hezbollah does. But it doesn't hear about what Israel does against the Arabs because they don't care about the Arabs.

GORANI: Can I ask you, is there a discussion between Syria and Iran regarding what's happening right now and what are those discussions?

SHAABAN: No. But two days ago, the president explained that Iran would be supporting Syria against any Israeli aggression that might be directed against Syria.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GORANI: All right. You heard it there, Michael from Bouthaina Shaaban, a Syrian cabinet minister, saying that Syria has no influence over Hezbollah. And importantly as well, as we saw from that foreign minister visit today in Damascus, Syria and Iran, there's no natural kinship before them, but common foes are bringing them together. Michael?

HOLMES: Hala, you know Syria pretty well. What are the people in the streets telling you, just the ordinary Syrians?

GORANI: Well, ordinary Syrians on the street are saying that this is what's happening right now, in northern Israel and southern Lebanon. They consider this an excuse in order for the international community to put pressure on Syria.

I come to Syria rather often, reporting from here, and really, you can sense that there's something different in the streets. People are concerned. They think they might become the next targets. But you also sense from some of the people we've spoken to, defiance as well. They're saying that if war comes to them, they're saying that they'll stand up to any aggression that they feel might come to them from Israel. That's the sense I'm getting from the street right now. Michael?

HOLMES: All right Hala, thanks very much. Hala Gorani there reporting from Syria. We are going to take a short break right now.

VASSILEVA: And when we come back, we're going to look at what the United Nations is doing to try to end the conflict. Stay with us. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VASSILEVA: Welcome back. Seen live in more than 200 countries across the globe, this is YOUR WORLD TODAY on CNN International. Let us get a quick update now on developments in the Middle East crisis. Israel says it will continue its offensive in Lebanon and Gaza until quote, "all terrorist infrastructure is gone and its kidnapped soldiers are returned." Prime Minister Ehud Olmert also says Israel will have no mercy on militants that attack its city. It blames Tehran and Damascus for escalating the conflict, calling them quote, "an axis of evil."

Well the United Nations is looking into the possibility of deploying a multinational stabilization force in southern Lebanon. Meanwhile, a U.N. delegation is making the diplomatic rounds in a region shuffling from Lebanon to Israel with ideas on how to possibly stop the fighting.

Senior U.N. correspondent Richard Roth joins us now live with an update on that. Richard, tell us about those efforts.

RICHARD ROTH, CNN SR. U.N. CORRESPONDENT: Ralitsa, ideas, proposals, thoughts, things are in a diplomat flurry right now. Ideas emanating out of that G8 summit in St. Petersburg and now the Security Council ambassadors here are on the receiving end, in touch with their capitals.

They're also watching very closely the visit to the region by Middle East U.N. political experts, who have been shuttling between key locations. V.J. Nambiar, the United Nations secretary general senior adviser in the middle leading a delegation. He's in Lebanon today saying they've got some concrete ideas, they want to go to Israel, talk about it, they may go back to Lebanon. It;s the first step, he says, but it may be the way forward, promising first efforts, is what he's saying. Here at the United Nations, the United States is very concerned with what's happening, but also fearing that ideas such as a new stabilization force will not have take into account what Hezbollah is really to accede to.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN BOLTON, U.S. AMB. TO U.N.: Considering the possibility of such a force. And I think as we consider that possibility, we'd have to think of several questions. Three broad areas come to mind. First, would such a force be empowered to deal with the real problem? The real problem is Hezbollah. Would such a force be empowered to disarm and demobilize Hezbollah armed components. Would it be empowered to deal with countries like Syria and Iran that support Hezbollah? What exactly would be extent of the mandate imposed by Hezbollah?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROTH: A Lebanese foreign ministry official Waiting outside the council, appealing for a cease-fire and more action from the Security Council. The French -- the ambassador is the president of the council. He's saying they're getting their thoughts, ideas in a construction way really, so they're not prepared to adopt a new resolution at this time on any type of force for the area.

VASSILEVA: Richard, has there been any response to an overheard conversation between the U.S. President George W. Bush and British Prime of Britain, Tony Blair, in which we heard President Bush Criticizing Kofi Annan's approach, the way he is approaching things. He thinks that Kofi Annan could possibly talk to Syria, that that would be more productive.

ROTH: A top aide to Kofi Annan told journalists he's not prepared to comment on anything that wasn't on the record. A short time ago I asked a spokesman for Kofi Annan, who said, even though technology has captured this, he's really not going to comment. But he said that Kofi Annan wants a cessation of hostilities, not necessarily some quickie cease-fire. And further comment on Bush remarks, stay tuned.

VASSILEVA: Richard Roth at the United Nations, thank you very much.

HOLMES: Another short break for us. When we come back, we're going to talk about how the evacuations are going. A lot of foreign nationals getting out any way they can.

VASSILEVA: Yes, the French prime minister in Beirut trying to organize evacuations of European citizens.

We also saw the British trying to evacuate their citizens.

HOLMES: And the Americans, too.

VASSILEVA: We'll see more in a moment on that.

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HOLMES: Welcome back, everyone.

The island of Cyprus is one destination for those who have fled, or are trying to flee the fighting in Lebanon.

Our Chris Burns is there. He joins us now live with more.

I imagine a busy airport, Chris.

CHRIS BURNS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Michael, over my shoulder, this is port of Larnaca, and in just the next few hours, we're expecting an Italian Naval ship to arrive with 400 evacuees, mainly Italian, but also possibly other nationalities -- European, American and elsewhere.

Also the French have sent a ferry over to Beirut today, and it has gone to pick up some 1,200, 1,300 people, mainly French, but also, again, some Europeans, possibly some Americans as well.

This is now turning from a trickle of refugees, of evacuees to a bit of a stream. And we could be seeing many more in the days ahead as the Americans get their evacuation plan up to snuff. Up to now, today, what we've seen are the British and Americans using helicopters to ferry a few dozen here and there of high-priority evacuees. That being medical cases, elderly people, children who are unaccompanied, that sort of thing, taking them from Lebanon over to the British base here on Cyprus. And that's what they've been doing the last couple of days. But the Americans are now going to be move into a big way. An evacuation project with the U.S. military Naval ships, as well as a Greek ferry boat, that's going to be moving a lot of people in that direction.

Back to you, Mike.

HOLMES: All right, Chris, thanks very much. Chris Burns there in Larnaca.

That'll do it for this hour.

VASSILEVA: Absolutely. LIVE FROM is up next for our viewers in the United States.

HOLMES: And for viewers elsewhere, another half hour of YOUR WORLD TODAY coming up. I'm Michael Holmes.

VASSILEVA: I'm Ratlisa Vassileva.

HOLMES: Thanks for being with us.

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