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American Morning

Israel Seizes Palestinian-Controlled Areas in Gaza

Aired April 17, 2001 - 09:03   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.
LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Well, turning now to the latest escalation in the Middle East conflict. Israel has seized Palestinian-controlled areas in Gaza for the first time in the seven- month uprising. Overnight, Israeli forces launched fierce land, air, and sea strikes. One Palestinian was killed, and 36 were injured in those attacks. The Jewish state says it was retaliating for an earlier mortar attack on an Israeli town.

We get details now from CNN's Mike Hanna.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MIKE HANNA, CNN JERUSALEM BUREAU CHIEF (voice-over): The body of a 24-year-old Palestinian police officer is taken from a hospital for burial. He was killed in an Israeli attack on the northern Gaza town of Beit Hanoun, as a conflict that has now lasted more than six months moves into a new and even more intense phase.

Morning reveals the extent of damage in Gaza City from a series of overnight strikes. A number of targets were hit by guided missiles, most of them facilities connected to Palestinian security services, which Israel insists are involved in attacks against Israeli targets.

It was a night of terror for the civilian residents of Gaza City as well. Unlike previous Israeli attacks, on this occasion, there was no sound of incoming helicopters as warning. The explosions were heralded only by a shining light apparently floating in the sky, which, at the last moment, would alter direction and then zoom in on its target.

While the attack was underway, Israeli ground forces were moving into other parts of Gaza, recapturing territory that had been handed over to the Palestinian Authority seven years ago. The Israeli military says it is taking control of these areas for whatever time is needed. The Palestinians see it as a reoccupation in contravention of previous peace agreements.

"These attacks only confirm that Israel has crossed all the red lines and broken the taboos," says the general secretary of the PLO, Tyeb Abdel Rahim. "Sharon has declared a war on us. His partners in the peace process."

Overnight too, a total closure was imposed on Gaza. None of the more than the one-million people resident here allowed to cross any of the borders, and internal travel, too, has been severely curtailed, with the Gaza Strip effectively being cut by Israeli forces into three separate parts.

(on camera): The reason for all of this is what the Israeli government describes as an intolerable Palestinian mortar attack on a southern Israeli town. Israel says it will continue its offensive until the Palestinian Authority takes tangible steps to end the ongoing violence. The Palestinian leadership insists it has no control over those carrying out the mortar attacks, and a Cabinet minister says the Israeli action has expanded the sphere of war.

Mike Hanna, CNN, Gaza City.

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