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CNN Live Saturday

Palestinians, Israelis Accuse Each Other Of Attacks

Aired April 28, 2001 - 13:07   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.
DONNA KELLEY, CNN ANCHOR: The Israeli Army says Palestinian mortar attacks wounded five Israeli settlers in Gaza today, and at the same time Palestinians said that Israeli gunfire wounded three Palestinians, also in Gaza. Differences between Palestinians and the Israelis are legendary in the Middle East, and the old saying good fences make good neighbors -- well it's not necessarily so, as CNN's Ben Wedeman reports from Gaza.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Palestinians take pride in their hospitality, but for the Bashir (ph) family, hospitality has its limits.

Their house, next to the Jewish settlement of Kfar Darom, is now regularly occupied by Israeli soldiers who have commandeered positions on the top two floors.

Beyond that, it is off limits. From here there's a bird's-eye view of the settlement, but don't look too closely. When we did, Israeli soldiers quickly moved in and warned the Bashirs and us. They said Palestinian gunmen have used the house to shoot at the settlement and the settlement has come under fire, including mortars this weekend.

Has Bashir allowed anyone to shoot at the settlement?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Never.

WEDEMAN: Nevertheless, when soldiers are not upstairs, the house is a shooting gallery, virtually every room hit by the Israelis.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This missile, they shoot the house, it penetrated the wall and entered the kitchen.

WEDEMAN: Many possessions have been destroyed. 16-year-old Amira (ph) is now versed in a variety of weaponry.

UNIDENTIFIED CHILD: This is M-16. And this is Ergas (ph). And this another piece missile. And this one is another, and this one is something new, which I really don't know.

WEDEMAN: Despite it all, Bashir, a school headmaster, has nurtured a spirit of tolerance and peaceful coexistence in his children and students.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I always try to convince them that we are leading a new page of history. I try to insert peaceful values with them.

WEDEMAN: An hour before sunset, the entire family retires to this room on the ground floor.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Because we believe this room is the safest room, as six walls separate us from the Israelis.

WEDEMAN (on camera): Shortly after our first visit to the Bashir family, the house came under fire once again.

(voice-over): The bedroom was sprayed with bullets from the Israeli positions.

UNIDENTIFIED CHILD: I think they aimed to kill somebody.

WEDEMAN: Her father, hit by shrapnel, was hospitalized; yet his convictions are unshaken.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What happened yesterday encouraged me more and more to believe in peace.

WEDEMAN: But with each new attack, those convictions are put to the test.

Ben, CNN, Derebellach (ph), Gaza.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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