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Palestinians Outraged by Israeli Attack
Aired July 23, 2002 - 14:03 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.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: We begin this hour in the Middle East. Fifteen people, nine of them children, are dead after an Israeli airstrike on Gaza City. The target: the leader of Hamas' military wing. The attack has sparked Palestinian outrage, while Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon calls the attack one of Israel's biggest successes.
With the latest now, CNN's Chris Burns live from Jerusalem -- Chris.
CHRIS BURNS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good evening, Kyra. Well, there is widespread condemnation around the world, from the United Nations, the European Union, the United States, as you said moments ago, and other countries, Arab countries, and so forth around the world condemning what Israel did overnight.
However, Israel is sticking to its guns, saying that it was justified in doing that. Tens of thousands of Palestinians took to the streets for the funerals today in Gaza.
Mike Hanna has more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MIKE HANNA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on camera): In the densely- populated heart of Gaza City, a scene of utter devastation. This, the aftermath of an Israeli F-16 missile strike. The targets, says Israel, a senior leader in the Hamas movement, Salah Shehade. Hamas leaders have confirmed that Shehade is dead.
(voice-over): His wife and three of his children are also reported to have been killed. Doctors at the Shifa (ph) Hospital say members of Shehade's family are not among the 11 bodies they have identified. Among the dead, though, confirm the doctors are a number of children, at least one of them a baby.
Well over 100 people are reported to be wounded, more than 10 said to be in a critical condition. This man, who is one of the first on the scene, says it was like a horror movie. "I saw dead people on the ground," he says. "If you saw animals in this state, it would break your heart; so what about when it's human beings?"
And others in the crowd, deeply critical of the United States and what they regard as its blind support of Israel: "Why is it that anytime anything happens in Israel, America is in an uproar, but when anything happens to Palestinians, the Americans are silent, as if they've taken sleeping pills?"
The effect of the blast is widespread. A newly married couple were in this room, half a block away from where the missile struck. They both escaped unharmed.
(on camera): Israel contends Shehade was responsible for numerous terror attacks against Israeli civilians and describes this operation as one of self-defense. Palestinian leaders insist that nothing can justify so many Palestinian civilians being killed and wounded.
(voice-over): The Israeli prime minister has expressed regret about the loss of civilian life, but describes the killing of the Hamas leader as a major success.
This is not the view from these streets, and with Palestinian militants threatening revenge attacks, yet another major escalation of violence in the region threatens.
Mike Hanna, CNN, Gaza City.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BURNS: And of course, talks that had been happening in the last few days between the Israelis and Palestinians seem to be on hold. No movement on that line -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Chris, what more can you tell us about this Hamas military leader?
BURNS: Well, like quite a few militants among the Palestinians, he grew up in a Palestinian refugee camp in Gaza after his parents were forced to leave Jaffa when the Israelis fought their war of independence in 1948. We take a closer look.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BURNS (voice-over): "The enemy has opened the door to hell," he told his supporters. That was shortly after peace talks foundered and the latest Palestinian uprising began nearly two years ago. "Our people are not in need of a new compromise," he said, "they are in need of a new rifle."
Since then, Sheikh Salah Shehade, head of Hamas's military wing in Gaza, rose to the top of Israel's most-wanted list. According to the Israeli government, he plotted dozens of attacks that killed scores of Israelis.
Among them, the Dolphinarium disco bombing in Tel Aviv in June last year that killed more than 20 people, the Sbarro pizzeria bombing in Jerusalem two months later that left 15 dead, and the so-called Passover bombing at a Netanya hotel in March this year that left 29 dead, sparking Israel's crackdown called "Operation Defensive Shield." The Israelis say Shehade played a key role over the years in producing the rudimentary Qassam rockets fired at Jewish settlements in Gaza, as well as Israel proper. And, the Israelis say, he developed closer ties, including financial ones, with Hamas in Syria and Lebanon.
Shehade was 49 years old, a sociology graduate and former social worker. He was born in a Gaza refugee camp five years after his parents fled Jaffa for the Gaza Strip during Israel's 1948 war for Independence.
In 1987, shortly before the first intifada against Israeli occupation began, Shehade helped found Hamas's military wing. The Israelis twice jailed him for terrorist activity. He became a close confidant of Hamas spiritual leader, Sheikh Ahmed Yassin. Many Palestinians saw him as an effective freedom fighter. And now, as a martyr.
Several times, Israel demanded the Palestinian Authority arrest Shehade, but the Authority either could not, or would not, do so. Calling Shehade a ticking time bomb, charging an eminent attack, the Israelis say they could wait no longer.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BURNS: The Israelis say to brace for other ticking time bombs out there, as retaliation is a concern for this attack today -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Chris Burns, live from Jerusalem. Thanks, Chris.
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