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Hamas Official Killed, Militant Groups Call off Ceasefire
Aired August 21, 2003 - 14:12 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.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Another challenge facing U.S. diplomats: How to move Israelis and Palestinians beyond the dangerous crossroad. They now find themselves perhaps at the precipice of a cliff.
But militant Palestinian troops called off their cease-fire after one of the own pays the price for a suicide bombing. Secretary of State Colin Powell is urging both sides to think before they act once again.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
COLIN POWELL, SECRETARY OF STATE: I believe both parties understand that a way has to be found to go forward. The alternative is what? Just more death and destruction. Let the terrorists win? Let those who have no interest in a Palestinian state win? Let those who have no interest but killing innocent people win? No. That is note an acceptable outcome.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: Well, in the Middle East everyone is on edge, wondering who might strike next and where. CNN's Michael Holmes was one of the first journalists on the scene today, minutes after a senior Hamas leader was killed by an Israeli air strike.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The missile strike literally minutes after CNN had concluded an interview with a senior Palestinian security official who had promised, he said, imminent action against the military wings of both Hamas and Islamic Jihad, the two groups who claimed responsibility for the deadly west Jerusalem bus bombing that killed 20 Israelis and wounded another 100.
The missiles target was Ismail Abu Shanab, a senior Hamas official, on the political side rather than the military side, and a man who is said by Palestinians to have been a moderate voice within the context of the Hamas political movement.
He is the man who was to go-to between the Palestinian authority and the Hamas group when a ceasefire was negotiated. Now, he was killed, burnt beyond recognition, along with two of his bodyguards, the bodies taken out by bystanders and taken away to hospitals.
An additional 12 people were injured, three of them critically. They, too, taken to hospitals. About an hour and a half later, Hamas said it was formally withdrawing from the ceasefire agreement. The Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigade also withdrew. Both promised revenge attacks would take place as soon as possible.
Hamas also demanded that the Palestinian prime minister, Mahmoud Abbas, resign from his position and, in the words of a senior Hamas official, leave the Palestinian territory.
The road map to peace, if not in tatters, is certainly in disarray.
Michael Holmes, CNN, Gaza City.
(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
Aired August 21, 2003 - 14:12 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Another challenge facing U.S. diplomats: How to move Israelis and Palestinians beyond the dangerous crossroad. They now find themselves perhaps at the precipice of a cliff.
But militant Palestinian troops called off their cease-fire after one of the own pays the price for a suicide bombing. Secretary of State Colin Powell is urging both sides to think before they act once again.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
COLIN POWELL, SECRETARY OF STATE: I believe both parties understand that a way has to be found to go forward. The alternative is what? Just more death and destruction. Let the terrorists win? Let those who have no interest in a Palestinian state win? Let those who have no interest but killing innocent people win? No. That is note an acceptable outcome.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: Well, in the Middle East everyone is on edge, wondering who might strike next and where. CNN's Michael Holmes was one of the first journalists on the scene today, minutes after a senior Hamas leader was killed by an Israeli air strike.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The missile strike literally minutes after CNN had concluded an interview with a senior Palestinian security official who had promised, he said, imminent action against the military wings of both Hamas and Islamic Jihad, the two groups who claimed responsibility for the deadly west Jerusalem bus bombing that killed 20 Israelis and wounded another 100.
The missiles target was Ismail Abu Shanab, a senior Hamas official, on the political side rather than the military side, and a man who is said by Palestinians to have been a moderate voice within the context of the Hamas political movement.
He is the man who was to go-to between the Palestinian authority and the Hamas group when a ceasefire was negotiated. Now, he was killed, burnt beyond recognition, along with two of his bodyguards, the bodies taken out by bystanders and taken away to hospitals.
An additional 12 people were injured, three of them critically. They, too, taken to hospitals. About an hour and a half later, Hamas said it was formally withdrawing from the ceasefire agreement. The Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigade also withdrew. Both promised revenge attacks would take place as soon as possible.
Hamas also demanded that the Palestinian prime minister, Mahmoud Abbas, resign from his position and, in the words of a senior Hamas official, leave the Palestinian territory.
The road map to peace, if not in tatters, is certainly in disarray.
Michael Holmes, CNN, Gaza City.
(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
