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Another Israeli Missile Strike
Aired June 10, 2003 - 12:01 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.
WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Let's begin with Mike with the very latest on this second Israeli strike.
Mike, what's going on?
MIKE HANNA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, details sketchy at the moment, but reports from Gaza indicate that there has been another attack. According to eyewitnesses there, three Palestinians have been killed in what the eyewitnesses say was an aerial attack from Israeli helicopters. No comment from the Israeli Defense Force on these allegations.
However, the IDF says that there were at least six homemade rockets fired from Palestinian positions towards Israeli targets in that particular area. So details sketchy there. We're still trying to get details.
This follows another attack earlier in the day in Gaza City, when a senior Hamas leader Abdul Abdel Rantissi, was the target of an Israeli helicopter strike. He escaped slightly wounded, according to medical authorities.
However, at least two people were killed, and a young person has been pronounced clinically dead.
To discuss these fast-moving developments, I'm joined by a senior special adviser to the Israeli prime minister, Raanan Gissin.
Mr. Gissin, first of all, the latest details, is there another Israeli attack under way?
RAANAN GISSIN, SPECIAL ADVISER TO ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER: Well, what happened is that we responded to Kassam (ph) rocket attacks, the source of the fire. There hasn't been one day of letdown of firing Kassam rockets by the Hamas, the Hamas has declared a war against us a long time ago, but I think right now, they declared a war on the road map to peace. They declared a war on Abu Mazen as well.
HANNA: Now Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian prime minister has described the attack in Gaza City, the earlier attack, as criminal, as a terrorist attack. There have been strong words from the White House expressing deep concern about this. What was the motivation behind such as attack at this particular time?
GISSIN: Nothing that we didn't forewarn in the past. The prime minister was very clear on his words. As a matter of fact today, he issued the orders to remove unauthorized outposts, regardless of the fact that we had to bury four Israeli soldiers from an attack which was perpetrated and planned by Abdel Aziz Rantissi. This is not a man of peace; this is a man who has delayed mortal death on peace. He doesn't want to be any part of a hutna (ph), of a cease-fire. He is leading the hardline, and he is presenting to us a clear and present danger of an assembly line of ticking bombs, not just one bomb.
And therefore, we said in the past that the Palestinian Authority is not going to take any action to stop it, it leaves us with no other choice but to stop and remove such obstacles on the road map to peace.
HANNA: Raanan Gissin, thank you very much indeed for joining us. So the situation, we're still waiting for further details of what happens to be a second Israeli attack in Gaza. World from Raanan Gissin in the last couple of minutes that there was a retaliation to rocket attacks on Israeli targets. Fast-moving story, much violence in the course of the day -- Wolf.
BLITZER: All right, we'll be standing by, Mike Hanna, our Jerusalem bureau chief, for more details. Mike, thanks very much.
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 June 10, 2003 - 12:01 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Let's begin with Mike with the very latest on this second Israeli strike.
Mike, what's going on?
MIKE HANNA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, details sketchy at the moment, but reports from Gaza indicate that there has been another attack. According to eyewitnesses there, three Palestinians have been killed in what the eyewitnesses say was an aerial attack from Israeli helicopters. No comment from the Israeli Defense Force on these allegations.
However, the IDF says that there were at least six homemade rockets fired from Palestinian positions towards Israeli targets in that particular area. So details sketchy there. We're still trying to get details.
This follows another attack earlier in the day in Gaza City, when a senior Hamas leader Abdul Abdel Rantissi, was the target of an Israeli helicopter strike. He escaped slightly wounded, according to medical authorities.
However, at least two people were killed, and a young person has been pronounced clinically dead.
To discuss these fast-moving developments, I'm joined by a senior special adviser to the Israeli prime minister, Raanan Gissin.
Mr. Gissin, first of all, the latest details, is there another Israeli attack under way?
RAANAN GISSIN, SPECIAL ADVISER TO ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER: Well, what happened is that we responded to Kassam (ph) rocket attacks, the source of the fire. There hasn't been one day of letdown of firing Kassam rockets by the Hamas, the Hamas has declared a war against us a long time ago, but I think right now, they declared a war on the road map to peace. They declared a war on Abu Mazen as well.
HANNA: Now Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian prime minister has described the attack in Gaza City, the earlier attack, as criminal, as a terrorist attack. There have been strong words from the White House expressing deep concern about this. What was the motivation behind such as attack at this particular time?
GISSIN: Nothing that we didn't forewarn in the past. The prime minister was very clear on his words. As a matter of fact today, he issued the orders to remove unauthorized outposts, regardless of the fact that we had to bury four Israeli soldiers from an attack which was perpetrated and planned by Abdel Aziz Rantissi. This is not a man of peace; this is a man who has delayed mortal death on peace. He doesn't want to be any part of a hutna (ph), of a cease-fire. He is leading the hardline, and he is presenting to us a clear and present danger of an assembly line of ticking bombs, not just one bomb.
And therefore, we said in the past that the Palestinian Authority is not going to take any action to stop it, it leaves us with no other choice but to stop and remove such obstacles on the road map to peace.
HANNA: Raanan Gissin, thank you very much indeed for joining us. So the situation, we're still waiting for further details of what happens to be a second Israeli attack in Gaza. World from Raanan Gissin in the last couple of minutes that there was a retaliation to rocket attacks on Israeli targets. Fast-moving story, much violence in the course of the day -- Wolf.
BLITZER: All right, we'll be standing by, Mike Hanna, our Jerusalem bureau chief, for more details. Mike, thanks very much.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
