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American Morning

Israeli Tanks Roll Into Palestinian Territory

Aired October 19, 2001 - 11:35   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.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Now for the latest from the Middle East, where things are very tense. Our CNN Jerusalem bureau chief Mike Hanna tells us the Israeli Army is on the move in retaliation.

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MIKE HANNA, CNN JERUSALEM BUREAU CHIEF (voice-over): Israeli tanks back in the Palestinian city of Bethlehem, three occupying positions they'd withdrawn from six weeks ago in terms of an agreed truce on the ground. Agreements reached in recent, tentative moves towards a cease-fire set aside, the talk now of how to wage the conflict, rather than how to avoid it.

In Israeli eyes, the moment of change: the assassination of Cabinet Minister Rehavam Zeevi, shot dead in a Jerusalem Hotel Wednesday, a radical Palestinian group, the PFLP, claiming responsibility.

Military blockades that had been taken down at the beginning of the week reestablished, and the Israeli troop deployment into autonomous Palestinian areas meeting strong resistance. Among those fighting in the streets of Ramallah is Mohammed Abu Hallawe (ph), a member of Yasser Arafat's Fatah movement who says he was the target of an Israeli assassination attempt two months ago when the car in which he was traveling was hit by a missile.

He believes the Palestinian Authority leader will not carry out the reported pledge to arrest those responsible for Rehavam Zeevi's death.

"Arafat is smart. He's not going to cause an internal war," he says. "The Israelis assassinated 69 Palestinians, and no one did anything about it. The assassination of any of their ministers is a legitimate action."

Thursday night, three members of Fatah's military wing were killed when their car exploded in Bethlehem. Among the dead, Atif Abayyat, who'd been accused of killing several Israeli civilians.

The Israeli government denies responsibility, but Palestinians are adamant the three men were assassinated; the Palestinian minister describing the deaths as another example of state terrorism.

Shortly after the explosion, a lengthy and intense exchange of fire between Palestinians and Israeli forces guarding the Jewish community in nearby Gilo. In another act of violence, a group of Israeli hikers is fired on by Palestinian gunmen in the West Bank. One of the Israelis is killed. An example, says Israel, of the need to restrict the movement of Palestinian militants, the Israeli tanks now ensconced in several Palestinians cities in the West Bank.

(on camera): Israel says these are necessary security measures. Palestinians describe the deployments as Israeli aggression. It's precisely the escalated conflict the U.S. was desperate to avoid as it seeks to include Arab nations in its international coalition against terror.

Mike Hanna, CNN, Jerusalem.

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