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American Morning

Israel Responds With Force After Yesterday's Suicide Bombing

Aired June 06, 2002 - 07:01   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.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: Up front this morning, Israel responds with force after yesterday's suicide bombing, which killed 17 Israelis. Tanks and armored vehicles rolled into Yasser Arafat's compound in Ramallah. Heavy gunfire was exchanged, and one of Arafat's bodyguards was killed before Israeli forces pulled out a few hours later.

CNN's Jerrold Kessel joins us now with more live from Jerusalem.

Good morning, Jerrold.

JERROLD KESSEL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Paula.

And indeed an Israeli action, a strong Israeli action, forceful but limited in time, and Yasser Arafat (UNINTELLIGIBLE), the Palestinian leader inspecting the damage even to his personal headquarters. There was damage to other buildings in his compound, blown up, one Palestinian policeman killed, but in his personal headquarters also a good deal of damage, and this is what the Palestinian leader had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

YASSER ARAFAT, PRES., PALESTINIAN AUTHORITY: They are saying or they try to say that they can defeat us. No one can defeat the Palestinian people, who are defending the holy, sacred Christian and Muslim holy places. And we are here to defend it, and we are ready to die to defend it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KESSEL: A very defiant Yasser Arafat, but what it seemed like evolving into the second battle for his Mukata headquarters there in Ramallah soon proved to be something entirely different. How different a scene from when only a month ago when Yasser Arafat was held under siege for five weeks in that Mukata headquarters, as the Israelis went on their major military invasion of the West Bank.

This time, they were out within six hours, but nonetheless, they are saying it is the same purpose that they had in mind. Then they were saying they were out to isolate Yasser Arafat, to sideline him, to show in Ariel Sharon's words that he was irrelevant. Now, the Israelis admitting that five-week siege missed its mark. Yasser Arafat, instead of being shown to be irrelevant, was the focus of the issue, became the symbol of Palestinian resilience.

Now, what the Israelis say by the short action in the heart of Yasser Arafat's powerbase, they say they are again trying to sideline him by showing just how powerless he is, that he has no real authority, and that he should not count for having any such authority.

This as the Israelis begin to bury their dead from yesterday's suicide bombing attack on that bus in Galilee; 17 Israelis killed, 13 of them soldiers. Many of the funerals taking place today. But even as the Israelis mourn their dead, Palestinians are counting the political, the diplomatic cost of that operation by the Islamic group, Islamic Jihad. Palestinian officials saying that this could really damage the efforts by President Bush, by Egypt's President Mubarak to try to move this conflict back into the negotiating mold. A real challenge for Yasser Arafat here -- Paula.

ZAHN: Jerrold Kessel, we are going to leave it there this morning. Thanks so much for that update.

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