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American Morning
Israeli Gunships Fire Missiles at Busy Road in Gaza City
Aired June 10, 2003 - 07:31 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: Israeli helicopter gunships fired missiles at a busy road in Gaza City this morning. The target was a senior Hamas leader who is believed to have survived that attack.
Our Jerrold Kessel is in Jerusalem with the latest -- Jerrold.
JERROLD KESSEL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Daryn.
And the ramifications of this attack, a failed assassination attack by Israeli helicopter gunships on one of the leading officials of Hamas, the militant Islamic group, are continuing to reverberate here.
Abdel-Azizi Al-Rantissi was driving through the center of Gaza City when the helicopter gunships attacked, firing at least a half a dozen missiles at him. He was wounded and a number of people were, two people, at least, were killed.
From his bedside, Mr. Rantissi in the last half an hour has been speaking out, as he recovers, and he said, "We will maintain our jihad, our holy war, and resistance until we kick out every single criminal Zionist from our land."
Defiant words from the man whom Israel was targeting this morning but failed to kill in this helicopter gunship attack.
Outside the hospital, hundreds of Palestinian supporters of Hamas have been gathering, vowing revenge and calling on the Palestinian Authority of Mahmoud Abbas, the new Palestinian prime minister, who's called for an end to the armed struggle against Israel, to go on with the resistance, as they declared, and for revenge against Israel.
The helicopters fired, as I say, a half a dozen missiles. Mr. Rantissi apparently managed to scramble clear after the first missile was, struck his car, as did his bodyguards, although one of the bodyguards died of wounds later, as did a mother and her 8-year-old child in the attack.
Mr. Rantissi known as one of the hard-liners of the militant Islamic group and has consistently called, and we heard even now, for the ongoing of the armed struggle, the attacks against Israel, and for condemning the position adopted by the Palestinian Authority of Mahmoud Abbas, who had called for an end to the armed intifada.
But the Palestinian Authority now condemning this attack, calling on the United States to condemn Israel and to make it cease such targeted assassinations of Palestinian leaders, saying this will mean that the newly launched peace initiative by President Bush will have no chance of going ahead.
So far, no word from Israel and we await to see what will be the United States' position. Will it accept Israel's argument that this is part of the ongoing war on terror or will it see it as a major setback for that recently launched peace initiative?... Daryn.
KAGAN: We will be tracking the response.
Jerrold Kessel in Jerusalem, thank you.
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 10, 2003 - 07:31 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Israeli helicopter gunships fired missiles at a busy road in Gaza City this morning. The target was a senior Hamas leader who is believed to have survived that attack.
Our Jerrold Kessel is in Jerusalem with the latest -- Jerrold.
JERROLD KESSEL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Daryn.
And the ramifications of this attack, a failed assassination attack by Israeli helicopter gunships on one of the leading officials of Hamas, the militant Islamic group, are continuing to reverberate here.
Abdel-Azizi Al-Rantissi was driving through the center of Gaza City when the helicopter gunships attacked, firing at least a half a dozen missiles at him. He was wounded and a number of people were, two people, at least, were killed.
From his bedside, Mr. Rantissi in the last half an hour has been speaking out, as he recovers, and he said, "We will maintain our jihad, our holy war, and resistance until we kick out every single criminal Zionist from our land."
Defiant words from the man whom Israel was targeting this morning but failed to kill in this helicopter gunship attack.
Outside the hospital, hundreds of Palestinian supporters of Hamas have been gathering, vowing revenge and calling on the Palestinian Authority of Mahmoud Abbas, the new Palestinian prime minister, who's called for an end to the armed struggle against Israel, to go on with the resistance, as they declared, and for revenge against Israel.
The helicopters fired, as I say, a half a dozen missiles. Mr. Rantissi apparently managed to scramble clear after the first missile was, struck his car, as did his bodyguards, although one of the bodyguards died of wounds later, as did a mother and her 8-year-old child in the attack.
Mr. Rantissi known as one of the hard-liners of the militant Islamic group and has consistently called, and we heard even now, for the ongoing of the armed struggle, the attacks against Israel, and for condemning the position adopted by the Palestinian Authority of Mahmoud Abbas, who had called for an end to the armed intifada.
But the Palestinian Authority now condemning this attack, calling on the United States to condemn Israel and to make it cease such targeted assassinations of Palestinian leaders, saying this will mean that the newly launched peace initiative by President Bush will have no chance of going ahead.
So far, no word from Israel and we await to see what will be the United States' position. Will it accept Israel's argument that this is part of the ongoing war on terror or will it see it as a major setback for that recently launched peace initiative?... Daryn.
KAGAN: We will be tracking the response.
Jerrold Kessel in Jerusalem, thank you.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
