Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Live Saturday

Israel Takes Control of Tulkarem's Main Refugee Camp

Aired March 09, 2002 - 22:12   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.
CATHERINE CALLAWAY, CNN ANCHOR: Recently, Israeli security forces rounded up hundreds of Palestinian men from a refugee camp and moved them to an Army base to Karum. It's a West Bank town close to the Israeli town of Netagne, which Israel says has been a staging ground for attacks on its citizens.

Ben Wedeman traveled there and filed this report from the Palestinian perspective.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Nothing is standing in Israel's way, pressing ahead with its offensive. Israeli tanks and armored personnel carriers have taken control of Tulkarem's main refugee camp, leaving a path of destruction in their wake.

After Friday's bloodshed here which left at least 16 Palestinians and one Israeli soldier dead, the fighting died down. But the smoke has to clear.

Israeli soldiers warily watched the streets, taking aim at potential resistance. Few Palestinians ventured out of the camps back alleys. In the afternoon, Israeli soldiers called upon the camps adult males to gather in the courtyard of the United Nations school. Women and children watched on. Their fathers, brothers and sons suddenly at the mercy of those they see as their enemy.

(on camera): Most of the men and teenage boys in this camp have given themselves up, fearful of the consequences of any resistance.

(voice-over): "We're going because we haven't done anything," says this man. "If they go into our houses, they'll scare the children even more. It's been bad enough already." Israeli soldiers said they were looking for suspects on a list of men believed to have attacked Israelis. Some of those giving themselves up appeared to be unlikely terrorists.

Since Thursday, Israel has arrested around 500 Palestinians in Tulkarem. Some were on Israel's wanted list. Israeli forces also found in the camp what they said were 10 homemade rockets and an explosives workshop.

The Israeli foray into this camp has been a traumatic experience for many here. "They've arrested my husband, my son, others have been killed," says this woman. "The freezers in the morgue are full of the dead. They should know we're not animals. We are flesh and blood."

In that morgue, the body of ambulance driver of Ibrahim Mohammed Assad, shot Thursday by the Israelis. The Israeli army says he didn't respond to soldier's orders to stop. A colleague looks on, overcome. Israeli may have found what it was looking for here, but it comes at a very high cost.

Ben Wedeman, CNN, Tulkarem on the West Bank.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com