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Temporary Truce?
Aired June 25, 2003 - 13:58 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: Talk of a truce in the Middle East. One side says a deal is done. Others say it's still in the works. It involves three Palestinian militant groups agreeing to stop their attacks on Israelis. At least for the summer, they say.
CNN's Sheila MacVicar is on the videophone now from Gaza City with more on this -- Sheila.
SHEILA MACVICAR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Miles, this cease-fire that has been under some discussion for some days now, we are told that it would be a three-month cease-fire, a temporary cease-fire, where the militant groups would agree to cease all attacks in Israel, in the West Bank, and in Gaza itself.
Now, we are hearing from Palestinian officials, they are telling us an agreement has been reached, that there is some kind of a document which has been sent to Palestinian president, Yasser Arafat.
However, talking to members of the militant groups here in Gaza, we are told there has yet been no agreement reached. There is -- it is still under discussion. Now, this afternoon, we had an event here in Gaza which may have a big impact on those discussions. The Israeli Defense Forces in action in the air, over the village of Vaneysuela (ph).
Now we are told that their target was a Hamas militant who they say, according to Israelis, was attempting to deliver a mortar. Now we are told that a known Hamas militant named Mohammad Abu Sayam (ph), was in the car that was hit. He survived the attack. However, two Palestinian civilians who were driving in a nearby car, we are told, have been killed, and 11 others have been wounded, three of them critically hurt.
Now talking to a senior member of Hamas just a few moments ago, I asked him his reaction to these events this afternoon, and the impact they might have on the cease-fire. What he said to me is Prime Minister Sharon is trying to escalate this situation and put obstacles in the way of any discussions or possible Palestinian cooperation. He went on to say, and this is the important part, "Let's hope that the international community will denounce such acts, and that would allow the Palestinian dialogue to continue."
So a very much -- there is a cease-fire deal that is in the works. It's been under discussion. The question now is whether or not these actions on the part of Israel's government will, in fact, derail that -- Miles.
O'BRIEN: Sheila MacVicar. Thank you very much. It appears we might have lost that signal there.
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 June 25, 2003 - 13:58 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Talk of a truce in the Middle East. One side says a deal is done. Others say it's still in the works. It involves three Palestinian militant groups agreeing to stop their attacks on Israelis. At least for the summer, they say.
CNN's Sheila MacVicar is on the videophone now from Gaza City with more on this -- Sheila.
SHEILA MACVICAR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Miles, this cease-fire that has been under some discussion for some days now, we are told that it would be a three-month cease-fire, a temporary cease-fire, where the militant groups would agree to cease all attacks in Israel, in the West Bank, and in Gaza itself.
Now, we are hearing from Palestinian officials, they are telling us an agreement has been reached, that there is some kind of a document which has been sent to Palestinian president, Yasser Arafat.
However, talking to members of the militant groups here in Gaza, we are told there has yet been no agreement reached. There is -- it is still under discussion. Now, this afternoon, we had an event here in Gaza which may have a big impact on those discussions. The Israeli Defense Forces in action in the air, over the village of Vaneysuela (ph).
Now we are told that their target was a Hamas militant who they say, according to Israelis, was attempting to deliver a mortar. Now we are told that a known Hamas militant named Mohammad Abu Sayam (ph), was in the car that was hit. He survived the attack. However, two Palestinian civilians who were driving in a nearby car, we are told, have been killed, and 11 others have been wounded, three of them critically hurt.
Now talking to a senior member of Hamas just a few moments ago, I asked him his reaction to these events this afternoon, and the impact they might have on the cease-fire. What he said to me is Prime Minister Sharon is trying to escalate this situation and put obstacles in the way of any discussions or possible Palestinian cooperation. He went on to say, and this is the important part, "Let's hope that the international community will denounce such acts, and that would allow the Palestinian dialogue to continue."
So a very much -- there is a cease-fire deal that is in the works. It's been under discussion. The question now is whether or not these actions on the part of Israel's government will, in fact, derail that -- Miles.
O'BRIEN: Sheila MacVicar. Thank you very much. It appears we might have lost that signal there.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
