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Explosion Reported at a Cafe in Central Jerusalem

Aired March 09, 2002 - 15:41   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.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: We want to update you now on a violent day, the end of sabbath in Israel, where just moments ago, an explosion was reported at a cafe, the Moment (ph) Cafe, just near Prime Minister Sharon's office there. Many injuries are being reported there. We want to take you there to Jerusalem, where Michael Holmes is now.

Did you hear or feel the explosion taking place there in Jerusalem, Michael?

MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Fredricka, it's not very far from where we are at our bureau here in Jerusalem, and you may well hear the sirens as ambulance after ambulance and police car after police car have been going down the road behind us here to the cafe, which is only about five minutes from here.

The Moment (ph) cafe is an extremely popular cafe here. It is in the center of Jerusalem, in the heart of the Jerusalem. On the evening such as this, the end of sabbath, it was likely to have been extremely crowded. We are told by ambulance officials that there are large numbers of wounded. They are the words they put to us.

Now, just to correct one thing, it's next to or near, very near the prime minister's house, not office. And as I say, ambulances streaming there right now. And it is exceedingly bad situation from what we are told by ambulance officers. Large numbers of wounded.

Now, as viewers would know who have been watching for the last hour or so, it's not the first. It was only an hour ago that we were telling you about three Palestinians gunmen who in the town of Netanya, that's a coastal town just north of Tel-Aviv, walked out of a hotel, they were inside of a hotel lobby, rather, opened fire on people inside and outside of that hotel. The later you have pictures there of the moments after that. Ambulances, again, pouring into that area. It is long along a promenade, a pedestrian area out the front of a hotel. Again, extremely crowded with people going out to eat and socialize at the end of the sabbath.

The last figures we have were 35 people taken from the scene, five in serious condition, including a baby or toddler. Eight in moderate condition; 21 with light injuries.

Now, I can also tell you that the al Aksa brigade, that's the militia aligned with Yasser Arafat's Fatah movement, claimed responsibilities for that attack, that is the three gunmen opening fire at that hotel in Netanya. Those three gunmen, by the way, were all shot dead by Israeli security forces.

Now, before emergency personnel had a chance to even begin to recover from that incident -- they're still there, in fact -- word of this latest explosion at the Moment (ph) Cafe about five minutes from us here in downtown Jerusalem. It's in the heart of Jerusalem. As we say, a large number of wounded. Ambulances and police still streaming to that location. We will bring you up to date on more details of that when they come to hand.

I want to also point out that in the last hour or so, too, Israeli helicopters pounded the checkpoints leading to a presidential compound of Yasser Arafat's in Gaza. Nine missiles fired at those checkpoints. The word we have is 24 wounded in that attack. That also just happened about an hour ago. Israeli helicopters firing on those checkpoints; 24 people wounded. And it was only an hour or so before that that an F-16 jet fired on another presidential residence in the West Bank town of Nablus.

Now, Yasser Arafat was at neither compound. Of course, he has been confined to Ramallah by the Israelis.

Obviously, an exceedingly eventful day here in Israel, and the death toll of this latest violence, which was already at over 100 for the week, continues to grow -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: And Michael, I can hear the sirens behind you, people just not being able to respond to the latest explosion at that cafe. The difference here, the cafe versus the three gunmen earlier, is it true that what's believed that it was a suicide bomber that may be to blame at that cafe?

HOLMES: Yeah. Just struggling to hear you because of the sirens, Fredricka, but I heard what you said. At this stage, very, very early, and impossible to tell at the moment whether it's a suicide bomber or some other kind of attack or even -- an explosion is all we know at this stage. It's very early to be working out what sort of explosion or how it came about. But certainly a tragic day here in Israel on both sides of this continuing battle.

As I said, 100 Palestinians killed in the past week; 30 Israelis. And these latest attacks in the last hour or so in Netanya and here in central Jerusalem adding to a large number of wounded Israelis just in the last couple of hours, Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right, thanks very much, Michael Holmes from Jerusalem there. We are going to give you an opportunity to do some reporting there as the situation is there unfolding.

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