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Fifth Attack in Three Days Kills Four, Including Bomber
Aired May 19, 2003 - 14:01 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.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Now, we begin this hour of LIVE FROM with what top Israeli advisers call a tidal wave of bombings. At least four people are dead in the fifth such attack in three days. The latest targeting: a shopping mall in the northern Israeli city of Afula. CNN's Kelly Wallace is live at the scene -- Kelly.
KELLY WALLACE, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Miles, we are here right at the entrance to the shopping mall where this attack occurred, and if you just take a look for yourself at the damage behind me, you can see how powerful this explosion was. You can see that the entire entrance to this mall has been blown apart, and now what has become an all-too-familiar scene in Israel after more than 90 suicides bombings in 2 1/2 years, emergency teams combing through the damage and also the grisly task of looking for body parts. Jewish custom is, of course, that all bodies and all body parts are buried together.
Now we are told that this happened about 5:30 this afternoon, a busy time here at the shopping mall when people are coming to the mall. There still is a bit of confusion exactly about the identity of the suicide bomber, whether it was a man or a woman, but we are told when this bomber was coming here to be checked out by a security guard, that is when the bomber blew himself up. Three Israelis are killed, and it's also unclear if a male or female security guard was killed in this attack.
Also, more than 40 people wounded at the hospital right now, 13 in very serious condition. And putting this in context, this comes as the fifth suicide bombing in 48 hours. In the West Bank one on Saturday, two in Jerusalem on Sunday, the deadliest early Sunday morning. Seven Israelis -- six Israelis and one Palestinian killed in that. Earlier today in the Gaza Strip, Palestinian man blew himself up as he was riding on a bicycle, injuring three Israeli soldiers.
Of course right now, the big question, where does everyone go from here? Right now, the radical Palestinian group Islamic Jihad, in a phone call to a news organization, is claiming responsibility for this attack. The radical group Hamas has claimed responsibility for the four other attacks, sending a message, these groups say, that they are against any negotiation. They are against any moves by the new Palestinian prime minister, Mahmoud Abbas, to try and disarm these radical groups. They say what they say the military resistance will continue. The Israeli government is calling this the tip of the tidal wave of terror attacks.
That being said, though, the Israeli government, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon saying he still wants to keep talking to Mahmoud Abbas, the new Palestinian prime minister. The two sides, though, right now, very much not seeing eye to eye even on what should happen next. The Israelis say until the Palestinians do things to stop attacks like this one, they can't take steps such as pulling troops out of Palestinian towns. The Israeli position -- the Palestinian position is, until the Israelis accept and start implementing that road map, Mahmoud Abbas won't have sort of the political standing to really stand up to these radical groups.
That being said, though, Miles, right now a very grim scene here at this shopping mall. People in this town very, very upset. Talked to eyewitnesses here at a restaurant here. They said they heard a loud explosion and came out and saw things that they say, of course, they will never, ever forget -- Miles.
O'BRIEN: Kelly, as you stand there just amid this whole scene here -- it's a remarkable scene. No matter how many times you see it -- unfortunately, we see it replayed so many times. Have you had a chance to ask people there in the midst of this whether they would like the talks to proceed as Mr. Sharon has said he would like, at least in theory?
WALLACE: We did, Miles. We talked to two men, a worker, a manager at this restaurant, and an owner of this restaurant here. It's right on the side of this restaurant. We asked them that same question. We said five suicide bombings in two days as there is this talk of this road map for Middle East peace. One man said, Look, peace is the only way. We might have enemies, but the only way we're going to move forward is by talk and by peace. The owner of the restaurant talking about the economic toll this situation is taking, how this restaurant will now likely be closed for weeks. The economy already devastated by the violence here, so that man talking about the need to move forward. So it's interesting, two men who heard an explosion and witnessed some unimaginable things, both saying the only way forward, Miles, is through future talks and somehow finding a way to have peace between the Israelis and the Palestinians -- Miles.
O'BRIEN: Kelly, I wonder if we could just back up a moment, and if you could just tell us where you are standing right now, you're right where the bomb exploded. How close are you in? Just give us a sense of what's going on around you right now.
WALLACE: Absolutely. I'm literally right at the entrance to the shopping mall, and we're told by Israeli police that what happened is the suicide bomber came here, right at this entrance. Our viewers might not know this, but here in Israel, at every mall, every restaurant, almost every public place, there is a security guard on hand to check people because of the concern about suicide bombings. And we are told as the security guard was checking the suicide bomber, that is when the bomber blew himself up and he has killed -- we don't know, again, still the identity of the suicide bomber, but three people were killed. And this task is also something that's become all too familiar, combing through for clues to what happened, clues to the explosive device that was used, and trying to clear up this place as quickly as possible so people can move on and get on with things. And then again, Miles, that very grim and grisly task, which is sorting through this debris, trying to find body parts and trying to give all the people that were killed here the proper burial that they will need -- Miles.
O'BRIEN: Kelly, just one finality note. It just amazes me how close you can get to this scene. I can only imagine how far away we would be in the United States.
WALLACE: It is. And part of it is because, again, more than -- I think it's 93 or 94 suicide bombings in Israel over the past 2 1/2 years. The press is very familiar with this. The emergency teams are very familiar with this. Working together very closely, allowing cameras to get very close. Many Israeli officials want people to kind of see the extent of the damage to get the message out about the toll this is taking on the people of Israel and on their community.
And, again, also, a sense of how this country tries to clean up after a suicide bombing very quickly. Probably in another hour or so, this scene will be completely clear and perhaps the mall might be reopening in the next day or so. A sense, Israeli officials say, to try and get back to normal as quickly as possible so that they don't let the terrorists, in their words, win, and win by letting people stay away from places like shopping malls -- Miles.
O'BRIEN: All right. CNN's Kelly Wallace literally right on the spot where this bombing occurred in Afula in northern Israel. Thanks very much for that reporting.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired May 19, 2003 - 14:01 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Now, we begin this hour of LIVE FROM with what top Israeli advisers call a tidal wave of bombings. At least four people are dead in the fifth such attack in three days. The latest targeting: a shopping mall in the northern Israeli city of Afula. CNN's Kelly Wallace is live at the scene -- Kelly.
KELLY WALLACE, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Miles, we are here right at the entrance to the shopping mall where this attack occurred, and if you just take a look for yourself at the damage behind me, you can see how powerful this explosion was. You can see that the entire entrance to this mall has been blown apart, and now what has become an all-too-familiar scene in Israel after more than 90 suicides bombings in 2 1/2 years, emergency teams combing through the damage and also the grisly task of looking for body parts. Jewish custom is, of course, that all bodies and all body parts are buried together.
Now we are told that this happened about 5:30 this afternoon, a busy time here at the shopping mall when people are coming to the mall. There still is a bit of confusion exactly about the identity of the suicide bomber, whether it was a man or a woman, but we are told when this bomber was coming here to be checked out by a security guard, that is when the bomber blew himself up. Three Israelis are killed, and it's also unclear if a male or female security guard was killed in this attack.
Also, more than 40 people wounded at the hospital right now, 13 in very serious condition. And putting this in context, this comes as the fifth suicide bombing in 48 hours. In the West Bank one on Saturday, two in Jerusalem on Sunday, the deadliest early Sunday morning. Seven Israelis -- six Israelis and one Palestinian killed in that. Earlier today in the Gaza Strip, Palestinian man blew himself up as he was riding on a bicycle, injuring three Israeli soldiers.
Of course right now, the big question, where does everyone go from here? Right now, the radical Palestinian group Islamic Jihad, in a phone call to a news organization, is claiming responsibility for this attack. The radical group Hamas has claimed responsibility for the four other attacks, sending a message, these groups say, that they are against any negotiation. They are against any moves by the new Palestinian prime minister, Mahmoud Abbas, to try and disarm these radical groups. They say what they say the military resistance will continue. The Israeli government is calling this the tip of the tidal wave of terror attacks.
That being said, though, the Israeli government, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon saying he still wants to keep talking to Mahmoud Abbas, the new Palestinian prime minister. The two sides, though, right now, very much not seeing eye to eye even on what should happen next. The Israelis say until the Palestinians do things to stop attacks like this one, they can't take steps such as pulling troops out of Palestinian towns. The Israeli position -- the Palestinian position is, until the Israelis accept and start implementing that road map, Mahmoud Abbas won't have sort of the political standing to really stand up to these radical groups.
That being said, though, Miles, right now a very grim scene here at this shopping mall. People in this town very, very upset. Talked to eyewitnesses here at a restaurant here. They said they heard a loud explosion and came out and saw things that they say, of course, they will never, ever forget -- Miles.
O'BRIEN: Kelly, as you stand there just amid this whole scene here -- it's a remarkable scene. No matter how many times you see it -- unfortunately, we see it replayed so many times. Have you had a chance to ask people there in the midst of this whether they would like the talks to proceed as Mr. Sharon has said he would like, at least in theory?
WALLACE: We did, Miles. We talked to two men, a worker, a manager at this restaurant, and an owner of this restaurant here. It's right on the side of this restaurant. We asked them that same question. We said five suicide bombings in two days as there is this talk of this road map for Middle East peace. One man said, Look, peace is the only way. We might have enemies, but the only way we're going to move forward is by talk and by peace. The owner of the restaurant talking about the economic toll this situation is taking, how this restaurant will now likely be closed for weeks. The economy already devastated by the violence here, so that man talking about the need to move forward. So it's interesting, two men who heard an explosion and witnessed some unimaginable things, both saying the only way forward, Miles, is through future talks and somehow finding a way to have peace between the Israelis and the Palestinians -- Miles.
O'BRIEN: Kelly, I wonder if we could just back up a moment, and if you could just tell us where you are standing right now, you're right where the bomb exploded. How close are you in? Just give us a sense of what's going on around you right now.
WALLACE: Absolutely. I'm literally right at the entrance to the shopping mall, and we're told by Israeli police that what happened is the suicide bomber came here, right at this entrance. Our viewers might not know this, but here in Israel, at every mall, every restaurant, almost every public place, there is a security guard on hand to check people because of the concern about suicide bombings. And we are told as the security guard was checking the suicide bomber, that is when the bomber blew himself up and he has killed -- we don't know, again, still the identity of the suicide bomber, but three people were killed. And this task is also something that's become all too familiar, combing through for clues to what happened, clues to the explosive device that was used, and trying to clear up this place as quickly as possible so people can move on and get on with things. And then again, Miles, that very grim and grisly task, which is sorting through this debris, trying to find body parts and trying to give all the people that were killed here the proper burial that they will need -- Miles.
O'BRIEN: Kelly, just one finality note. It just amazes me how close you can get to this scene. I can only imagine how far away we would be in the United States.
WALLACE: It is. And part of it is because, again, more than -- I think it's 93 or 94 suicide bombings in Israel over the past 2 1/2 years. The press is very familiar with this. The emergency teams are very familiar with this. Working together very closely, allowing cameras to get very close. Many Israeli officials want people to kind of see the extent of the damage to get the message out about the toll this is taking on the people of Israel and on their community.
And, again, also, a sense of how this country tries to clean up after a suicide bombing very quickly. Probably in another hour or so, this scene will be completely clear and perhaps the mall might be reopening in the next day or so. A sense, Israeli officials say, to try and get back to normal as quickly as possible so that they don't let the terrorists, in their words, win, and win by letting people stay away from places like shopping malls -- Miles.
O'BRIEN: All right. CNN's Kelly Wallace literally right on the spot where this bombing occurred in Afula in northern Israel. Thanks very much for that reporting.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
