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Cease-Fire Fails; Israeli Soldier Missing

Aired August 01, 2014 - 14:00   ET

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

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: Good afternoon. I'm Anderson Cooper. I want to welcome viewers in the United States and around the world.

Breaking this hour, a major escalation in the Middle East conflict between Israel and Hamas. The latest cease-fire collapses. Each side blames the other for breaking it. There are deaths on both sides. And a house-to-house search is underway for a missing Israel soldier who Israeli officials suspect was captured by Hamas.

The cease-fire shattered about 90 minutes into what was to have been a 72-hour break in the fighting. The Israeli military says a Hamas suicide bomber attacked Israeli troops who were trying to destroy a tunnel near Rafah in southern Gaza. Two Israeli soldiers were killed. Israel believes another Israeli soldier was captured. Hamas denies that it has the soldier and a Hamas spokesman in Gaza blames Israel for breaking the cease-fire by advancing toward Rafah. Gaza's health ministry says at least 40 people were killed and 250 were wounded by an Israeli attack on Rafah. And the Israeli Defense Force says its troops were attacked and had to defend themselves.

The United States condemning the attack in the tunnel. Secretary of State John Kerry calls it, and I quote, "an outrageous violation of the cease-fire." He says Hamas, which controls security in Gaza, "must immediately and unconditionally release the missing Israeli soldier." Kerry is calling on the international community to, quote, "redouble its effort to end the tunnel and rocket attacks by Hamas terrorists on Israel and the suffering and loss of civilian life."

We have CNN correspondent covering the conflict from all angles. Of course, Karl Penhaul is in Gaza City, Wolf Blitzer is in Jerusalem, Sara Sidner is on the border between Israel and Gaza.

Karl, first to you. The situation right now in Gaza, what is it? Has the shelling intensified?

KARL PENHAUL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Not from our vantage point, Anderson. It is difficult to hear action across the whole of the Gaza Strip from where we are in Gaza City. We have heard a lot of shelling down on the eastern border between Israel and Gaza and we have heard from a CNN team that was down in Rafah about midafternoon down there in southern Gaza that shelling at that point was sporadic.

The other detail I just needed to bring you up to date from is that in the shelling incident down in Rafah this morning, the Palestinian Health Authority is now reporting 62 Palestinians were killed, and more than 350 were wounded. That shelling incident took place around the same time as that firefight between militants and the Israeli army.

Anderson.

COOPER: And, Karl, what are you hearing from Hamas? Because I know one Hamas official had told -- was quoted in a Turkish -- by Turkish media as saying that they had captured a soldier. Now Hamas is saying -- or at least their political wing is saying they don't have any information about it. What can you tell us?

PENHAUL: We have information from both the political wing, Fousi Bahum (ph). He is based here in Gaza. He's of the political wing. We've also had a written statement from the al-Qassam Brigade, that's the military wing of Hamas, put out on their website. Neither, interestingly enough, claim any responsibility for the capture of this Israeli soldier. Al-Qassam military wing does state that there was a firefight with the Israeli military. The al-Qassam Brigades clearly blame Israel for trying to advance closer to Rafah, beyond its own front lines. You'll remember there's a cease-fire agreement, should have been a cease-fire in place with no advance by either side.

But no claim of responsibility for capturing that soldier. That raises the question, are they buying time to get him to a secure location or is it perhaps one of the other militant factions, such as Islamic jihad, who we know operate in that zone and who have tunnels, that perhaps have taken him prisoner, or perhaps is his body still somewhere out there in the combat zone, Anderson.

COOPER: Or do they want to use that information as a bargaining chip about whether or not they even have him and what condition he is against the Israelis.

Wolf, tell us what -- what the Israeli government is saying about this soldier.

WOLF BLITZER, ANCHOR, CNN'S "THE SITUATION ROOM": They're saying his name is Hadar Goldin, 23 years old, second lieutenant from Tarsaba (ph), that's a suburb of Tel Aviv. The Israeli media, of course, showing his picture already. Everyone in Israel seems to be deeply, deeply concerned. It's something that is so painful to the Israelis. They obviously lose soldiers in battle. But when someone is captured, the intense pressure on any political leader here in Israel grows by the hour to try to get that soldier back.

You remember the last time Hamas had an Israeli soldier. His name was Gilad Shalit. He was captured by Hamas back in 2006 through a tunnel, one of those tunnels that goes underground from Gaza into Israel. They captured him, brought him back to Gaza. The -- and then they managed to hold him for five years until there was a negotiation in which he got freed in exchange for more than 1,000 Palestinian prisoners who were released by the Israelis.

That caused a bit of an uproar here in Israel. A lot of criticism of the prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu. Why would you encourage the taking of Israeli soldiers if they know they can get 1,000 prisoners in exchange? And that's why the pressure now may be the other way, the Israelis may not be willing to make some sort of negotiation like that if, in fact, Hamas does have this Israeli soldier.

So it's an awful situation. It's going to result in the immediate hours and days ahead with a much more intensive Israeli military assault. They've been going house to house in the Rafah area in southern Gaza, looking for this soldier. And it's going to be really, really brutal over the next few days. I suspect the chances of another humanitarian cease-fire getting off the ground, at least for now, are virtually nil.

COOPER: And, Wolf, obviously, Hamas and other militant groups in the region, Islamic jihad and others, place a great priority on the possibility of kidnapping -- or capturing in this case -- capturing a soldier to use as a bargaining chip. In terms of actually going ahead with any meetings in Cairo, we've heard from Hamas and others, the Palestinians side, who say they will still go there. As far as Israel is concerned, though, all talks are off.

BLITZER: As far as Israel is concerned, any cease-fire is off the table right now. They said they were willing to accept this one. They reluctantly, I must say, accepted it. There was a real division within the Israeli cabinet. They say they accepted it. I see no great desire for Israel right now to go ahead and try another cease-fire. They want to do as much damage to Hamas as possible, whether the tunnels -- the rockets, the missiles, the launchers, the mortar shells, whatever. And they also want to capture this Israeli -- recapture this Israeli soldier. So it's -- the chances of a cease-fire negotiation in Cairo right now I don't think are very likely, at least in the short term.

COOPER: To Sara Sidner along the border, what have you been seeing, what have you been hearing along the border?

SARA SIDNER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We've been hearing a lot of action, Anderson. We heard a 50 caliber weapons being fired. Likely off of the top of tanks. We heard tank rounds going in. We heard what sounded like rocket-propelled grenades in succession, four, five, six, that's been throughout the day maybe two, three hours ago. Now we're seeing some flares in the sky and listening to what sounds like F-15s over our head. And we've been hearing, again, those deep booms that we've been hearing for a long time, the artillery. We also saw the result of what looked like an air strike from the border, black smoke rising.

I want to give you some idea of what the difference is here on the border, how you can tell where Israel is behind me and how you can tell where Gaza is. On the left side, you'll see some lights, just little lights twinkling there here on the Israel side of the border. On the right side, that's Gaza, and you can see that it's dark and you know that the electricity is out at this time and it really gives you a view of what's going on. And it also reminds you of the humanitarian crisis that is unfolding there. People having difficulty with water, with electricity in these very, very, very hot days. So this gives you a real picture of what's going on.

And we do have people, a few people here, neighbors coming out from their homes and watching all that's happening, especially when they see lights in the sky, the flares in the sky here and also the sound of the planes. And every now and then the booms coming from artillery.

Anderson.

COOPER: Sara Sidner, thanks very much.

Any time a soldier is captured in a situation like this, the Israeli military makes great efforts to try to prevent militants from being able to take that soldier out of the immediate area. They make all efforts to try to recapture that soldier. No doubt those efforts are still going on.

Wolf, Karl, Sara, thank you. We'll continue to check in with you over the next two hours.

We're going to explore what may be happening to the soldier who Israel suspects was captured by Hamas and whether Hamas has a history of releasing prisoners. We'll tell you that history.

We've also just gotten word that President Obama will be making public comments at 2:35 this afternoon, about -- less than 30 minutes from now. We'll obviously carry those statements live.

Plus, as the U.S. gets ready to bring back Americans infected with Ebola, a new warning suggests the outbreak is growing faster than it can be controlled in West Africa.

CNN's special live coverage will continue in a moment.

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COOPER: Welcome back to our continuing coverage.

Right now, the 72-hour cease-fire between Israel and Hamas is in tatters, collapsing less than two hours after it began and the Israelis have turned their focus to a house to house search in Gaza, desperately trying to get back what they say is a captured Israeli soldier. They're looking for a missing Israeli soldier they suspect was captured by Hamas, though they don't know for sure it was Hamas. A Hamas official told CNN a short time ago that they do not have the soldier. Though earlier in the day, a Hamas official was quoted in Turkish media as saying that they had taken a soldier.

I want to bring in senior international correspondent Nic Robertson. He's in Doha, Qatar, which is also the defacto headquarters of Hamas.

Nic, what kind of support does Qatar first offer Hamas?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It offers them a lot of support. I mean it's giving a base for their political leader, Khalid Mashaal. It's done that since he fled Syria a couple of years ago, since the uprising there and it became too unsafe for him, he believed, to live in Damascus and Qatar for him was the obvious choice. They gave him sanctuary. Why? The Muslim Brotherhood is close -- rather Hamas is closely allied with the Muslim Brotherhood. Qatar is widely viewed in the region as supporting the Muslim Brotherhood and has done throughout and following on the back at the Arab Spring here.

So at the moment, for Hamas, Qatar is a -- is an -- an independent, international backer. Perhaps one of the only countries that is backing them in this strongly -- in this region at the moment, perhaps outside of Turkey, really representing their views internationally. But they're also the ones behind them, pushing them towards the cease- fire that they were supposed to get into earlier today, Anderson.

COOPER: Let's talk about the various players in Gaza. Obviously there's Hamas, but there's also Islamic jihad, a group, and it's possible Islamic jihad militants are responsible for the attack on the Israeli soldiers today. Israel says they can't - they don't know for sure it was Hamas, though they said this is Hamas' M.O.

ROBERTSON: Sure. And, look, I mean the majority of the tunnels, the vast majority of the tunnels, as best we know, are controlled and operated by Hamas and not Islamic jihad. They're a bigger organization. But it doesn't stop Islamic jihad being

involved in this. Islamic jihad was one of the groups that was supposed to go with Hamas and be represented for the talks in Cairo off the back of the cease-fire, again that was - that just didn't happen today. Islamic jihad have operated on their own before. They have been called up and brought to task by Hamas. Islamic jihad is a much more fundamentalist organization, if you will. And there are smaller -- there are smaller groupings there.

But Gaza is a small place. And the smaller the group that may have this Israeli soldier, the harder it's going to be for them to hide that person. Hamas has a good reach inside Gaza, and has a good understanding of what's going on in most parts there. It would be hard over time if Islamic jihad did have him and to be able to keep that hidden from Hamas. But, again, we don't know precisely who has him at this time, Anderson.

COOPER: And there have been conflicting reports from Hamas about this -- about the fate of this soldier. One of the things that's interesting is often when there is a capture or a kidnapping during peaceful times, even the status of the person who has been taken, whether they're alive or dead, that's something that a group will want to hold on because they can use that information as a bargaining chip with Israel.

ROBERTSON: They can. And, of course, what's the concern at the moment is that it was a bargaining chip that worked with Gilad Shalit and it was a five year bargaining process and they got many Palestinian prisoners released for that. But that's a long process and the concern is going to be now that there won't be patience for that kind of process and that whichever group has him, Islamic jihad won't be operating under the same controls and restrictions that Hamas might, they might not be willing to wait, and, therefore, the outcome might not be as positive as people would hope. I mean there are concerns for the safety and security of this soldier, obviously.

But one cannot, in this situation, say that just because Gilad Shalit was held for five years to bargain, that that's what will happen this time. There will be perhaps a fear that there's a necessity for Hamas or whomever to up the ante and show how serious they are. Obviously, it's a strong bargaining chip and they know at the moment that their intent does appear to keep this conflict going. And certainly taking an Israeli soldier is one way to keep the conflict going. Not clear, obviously, what direct strategy or their end goal is at the moment.

Anderson.

COOPER: Nic Robertson, appreciate the reporting.

Just a reminder, minutes from now, President Obama will be speaking live on the escalating situation in the Middle East. We'll obviously bring that to you live. There's a picture there from the White House Briefing Room.

Plus, the U.S. has been pushing Israel to the negotiating table. But with the apparent capture and cease-fire breakdown, is John Kerry's ability to pressure gone? This is CNN's special live coverage.

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COOPER: Welcome back.

We are anticipating President Obama to make a statement within about 10 or so minutes in the White House Briefing Room. We'll obviously bring you those comments live.

Whatever cease-fire there was between Israel and Hamas is over. Israel says its forces were attacked just 90 minutes after the truce with Hamas took effect. Israel also saying two of its soldiers were killed in a suicide attack and suspects another soldier was captured after a suicide bomber detonated outside a tunnel the soldiers were destroying in Gaza. Hamas tells CNN it does not have the Israeli soldier and blames Israel for violating the cease-fire.

As for those peace talks, they were supposed to be held in Cairo as part of a cease-fire. Whether those talks still happen certainly seems unlikely.

Joining me now, Michael O'Hanlon from the Brookings Institution and author of "Bending History: Barack Obama's Foreign Policy," Peter Beinart, CNN political commentator and contributing editor at "Atlantic Media."

Peter, let's start with you. As we wait to hear from President Obama, you and I were talking before the break, this really is sort of a symbol, no matter what the president says, no matter what the White House does, of declining American power in the region.

PETER BEINART, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Right. If you compare this to 10 or 20 years ago, America doesn't have the same influence over Israel that it did. Benjamin Netanyahu feels perfectly comfortable disregarding what John Kerry wants. He doesn't --

COOPER: Is that despite the huge support America continues to give Israel.

BEINART: Despite the huge support. And that's partly because Barack Obama is not that popular in Israel. America doesn't have nearly the leverage it has over Egypt that, you know, who used to be our go-to country to always make these deals. We don't have as much leverage over Turkey, which is a country that's close to Hamas. And I think what you're seeing is despite John Kerry's best efforts to cobble together cease-fires, he is not able to exert as much -- enough pressure on the different parties. And you ended up with this cease- fire that was -- had some ambiguity in it and allowed this situation in which Hamas or somebody, maybe Islamic jihad, somebody ultimately made a terrible, terrible decision to ultimately abduct this soldier.

COOPER: Michael, can you see any scenario in which these talks in Israel -- in Egypt continue this weekend? I mean the Palestinian side says they're still going to go, but with the capture - the apparent capture of an Israeli soldier, seems highly unlikely that Israel would do that.

MICHAEL O'HANLON, BROOKINGS INSTITUTION: I think so. But let me take a little broader angle, because I agree with what Peter and you just said, but I think, if we look at it in a more fundamental light, there's a glimmer of hope at the end of the tunnel because even if American leverage is less than what it was in some sense, let's remember, you know, we had many decades when we supposedly had all this power that we're lamenting that we've lost, we couldn't bring them to a peace deal then either. And so, in a sense, it ultimately boils down to, when do the parties decide they have no choice but to make peace?

And Israel is going to have to face that choice, that issue, and so will the Palestinians. And I don't see either one of them coming up with a better idea for how their long-term interest is served by avoiding the need for a two-state solution. So you're probably right in the short term, there's not much leverage by Kerry, there's not much hope for these upcoming proposed talks. But over the longer term, because there is no alternative to a two-state solution, and that's true regardless of how much U.S. leverage may be on the line, I still am going to keep some hope for maybe 2015 and beyond, as much as it seems to be, you know, whistling in the graveyard right now.

COOPER: Yes, I mean, Michael, have you seen any sign, though, that, you know, any form of negotiations really can -- any significant long- term talks on the status of a two-state solution actually -- that there's a real desire for that to take place? I mean Israel continues to build settlements in the West Bank, outraging people in -- Palestinians in the West Bank.

O'HANLON: You know, I think under the current leadership, the answer probably regrettably is no. And I think it's going to take a slightly different Israeli ruling coalition and a different prime minister because, at this point, the antipathy between not just Netanyahu and Abbas, but the two peoples and, you know, personified by those two leaders. That antipathy is too deep.

But if you could imagine a fresh leadership on both sides, and maybe it's going to take a couple, three years. I don't see how either side has an alternative. And most of the Israeli settlements could be encompassed after you slightly modify the 67 lines, in a very viable, Jewish majority Israeli state. Jews in Israel have to some day choose between wanting to have a Jewish majority state or preserving something like they've got today. And when it's put that starkly, I think bottom line, their fundamental interests is in a two-state solution.

COOPER: Peter, do you think that's what it's going to take to actually get some sort of momentum in the peace process, a change in leadership on both sides?

BEINART: I think it will take that change in leadership. I think this Israeli government is very committed to the settlement enterprise and not interested in a Palestinian state near the 1967 lines. It's true that in theory most Israelis support a Palestinian state, but there's not a lot of urgency. The last Israeli election issue barely came up at all. There is a defacto one-state reality that has been in place for almost half a century now without the Palestinians having basic rights. And, unfortunately, the Israeli left has not had nearly enough power to basically overturn that.

On the Palestinian side, Israel needs to decide whether it wants a strong Palestinian leadership or weak Palestinian leadership. You know, it doesn't get mentioned enough, but the most popular Palestinian leader alive, Marwan Barghouti (ph), sits in Israeli - an Israeli jail. He was involved in violent activity, but he is explicitly in favor of the two-state solution. He wanted a strong Palestinian leader to - more popular than Hamas, much more popular, to negotiate a two-state solution with, you could let him out of jail, make some understanding with him and have a serious negotiation. Be the worst thing that ever happened to Hamas.

COOPER: Peter Beinart, appreciate you being on. Michael O'Hanlon as well.

So, again, we are anticipating comments from President Obama about nine minutes or so from now, any moment. We'll bring those to you live. We're going to take a short break. Our coverage continues.

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