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CNN Live At Daybreak

Israel Launches New Attack on Palestinian Security Targets

Aired February 11, 2002 - 05:12   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.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Just moments ago, we got word of a new attack today in the Middle East, as Israel fired missiles at the Palestinian security headquarters.

CNN's Jerrold Kessel joins us live from Jerusalem to tell us about this latest attack -- Jerrold, what happened?

JERROLD KESSEL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Carol, a very volatile moment in a very volatile situation. Israel launching its fourth attack from the air on Palestinian security targets in Gaza City, the latest coming literally a few minutes ago. Apache helicopters, according to eyewitnesses and according to the U.N. staff which has a compound very close to that Palestinian security headquarters right in Yasser Arafat's main headquarters compound on Gaza, in Gaza City, confirming that helicopters fired missiles. There's no indication yet of any casualties in this latest Israeli attack, but it would be the fourth such Israeli missile strike and bombardment of Palestinian targets within the last half a day.

The Israelis also sent their tanks and armed personnel carriers early this morning into the Palestinian town of Nablus on the West Bank. This is the second time there was such an incursion made by Israeli armor and ground troops into the fringes of that main Palestinian town on the West Bank. Now, this is not confirmed by the Israeli army of the purpose of that operation, but we understand that they were looking for elements to do with or possibly the, what's known as the Kasam rockets.

Now, these are homemade rockets made by the, paraded by the radical Islamic group Hamas and the reason the Israelis are getting very edgy about these rockets is that yesterday one such missile was fired from within Gaza, landing in an open field, albeit, and causing no casualties or damage, inside Israel some three or four miles away from the Gaza border.

But the Israelis have warned, Prime Minister Sharon and the top military officials have warned that if such missiles which the Hamas have been developing are fired into Israeli population centers, Israel would regard that as a major upgrading of the confrontation and would respond accordingly like nothing they've done before. That's been the Israeli warning.

And it could be that that action in, last night in Gaza was also linked to the fact that that missile had been fired from within Gaza. There, we saw a bombardment by Israeli warplanes of a number of targets on three different occasions into Gaza yesterday. Some 30 people were wounded in those series of Israeli strikes. They also came after Palestinian gunmen had launched a deadly attack in the Israeli southern town of Bersheba. The gunmen killed two Israeli women soldiers who were off base just outside a major base, the gunmen opening fire at people who were out on lunch break in a cafe opposite that base, killing two women soldiers, wounding at least five other Israelis before the gunmen themselves were shot and killed.

All these incidents coming as two questions really beginning to emerge in this ongoing confrontation, just how far and what will Ariel Sharon do in his attempt to curb the Palestinian attacks which have recently caused the deaths of seven Israelis and what will be the immediate future of Yasser Arafat. Those two questions almost, you could say, rolled into one, and will be the focus as this deadly confrontation continues to be battled on various fronts -- Carol.

COSTELLO: And as they say, time will tell.

Thank you.

Jerrold Kessel reporting live for us from Jerusalem this morning.

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