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The Situation Room
United States Reaches Out to Lebanon; Benjamin Netanyahu Discusses Conflict in Middle East; More Bloodshed on 13th Day of Warfare
Aired July 24, 2006 - 16:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Ali thank you very much and to out viewers you are in THE SITUATION ROOM where new pictures and information are coming in all the time. Standing by CNN reporters across the United States and around the world to bring you today's top stories.
Happening now the United States reaches out to Lebanon under fire and in search of relief. It's 11:00 p.m. in Beirut where Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice kicked off her mission in the Middle East. This hour, she's promising humanitarian aid and walking a very difficult diplomatic line.
On this 13th day of warfare, Israeli forces and Hezbollah fighters spill more blood. It's 11:00 p.m. here in Jerusalem where I will speak to the former prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu about the conflict and any hope for a cease-fire.
And the U.S. military's changing mission in the Middle East. The evacuation of Americans is winding down and an emergency aid operation is gearing up. I'm Wolf Blitzer in Jerusalem. You are in THE SITUATION ROOM.
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is here in Israel tonight and her top Middle East adviser says the U.S. is promising $30 million to the United Nations humanitarian aid mission for Lebanon. Medical kits, blankets, and other supplies are due to start arriving tomorrow. Rice began her diplomatic mission with an unannounced stop in Beirut and talks with Lebanese officials. She billed it as a show of support for the Lebanese people in this time of crisis.
Israeli forces held their fire in Beirut for the most part today, but they waged new intense ground battles with Hezbollah fighters in southern Lebanon. Lebanese security forces say Israeli strikes have killed at least 375 people, wounded at least 727 in Lebanon. Hezbollah fired dozen more rockets from Lebanon into northern Israel today. Israel now reports 39 people in Israel are dead, including two soldiers killed in ground fighting earlier today.
And the U.S. says most Americans, who want to escape the fighting in Lebanon, are now out. More than 12,000 U.S. citizens have been evacuated over the past two weeks. We have correspondents standing by, our senior national correspondent John Roberts is in northern Israel. Our chief national correspondent John King is here in Jerusalem, but first let's go to our senior international correspondent Nic Robertson for an update on everything going on in Beirut. Nic?
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, when Condoleezza Rice arrived here, it was amid some very tight security. She went to the parliament building here, went to the prime minister's office, met with him, discussed with him her plan and proposal which, essentially is an all in one cease-fire, immediately followed by Hezbollah being disarmed, pulling back into the north of the country and an international force being put into the buffer zone. The prime minister didn't react to that particular proposal apart from saying that the Lebanese want the Sheba farms, a contested area with Israel, returned to Lebanon. Condoleezza Rice said she had come to the country at the request of President Bush.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CONDOLEEZZA RICE, SECRETARY OF STATE: I am obviously here because we are deeply concerned about the Lebanese people and what they are enduring. We are talking about the humanitarian situation and we're also talking about a durable way to end the violence. President Bush wants this to be my first stop, here in Lebanon, to express our desire to urgently find conditions with which we can end the violence and make life better for the Lebanese people.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTSON: Well, after meeting with the prime minister, Condoleezza Rice went to meet with Nabi Beri, the head of a movement here that's affiliated with Hezbollah, sort of their unofficial go- between with the Lebanese government. At the moment he told, or his office at least informed reporters afterwards that the plan that Condoleezza Rice was offering was a no-go. That what Hezbollah wants is an immediate cease-fire and after that to negotiate anything else.
Condoleezza Rice also met with a conglomeration of Sunni and Christian and Druze politicians, the so-called Cedar Movement, the anti-Syria movement here. She got a slightly warmer reception from those politicians. One of them I talked to afterwards told me from everything he heard he thinks there are many weeks, at least, of fighting yet to go. He thinks this will only be resolved when either Hezbollah or Israel, as he said, will be defeated in this, Wolf.
BLITZER: And we're going to be speaking later here in THE SITUATION ROOM, Nic, with one of those leaders of the Cedar Revolution that met with Condoleezza Rice earlier. Very briefly, Nic give us a little flavor. This trip to Beirut was not announced, obviously security concerns. Security precautions must have been very intense for the secretary of state?
ROBERTSON: You know, Wolf, I got a hint of this before we knew that Condoleezza Rice was definitely coming. As I drove down the streets this morning, there were soldiers, Lebanese army soldiers on a lot of the intersections lining the road. That is unusual. There was a heavy presence of police here just outside the prime minister's office and then the cavalcade that swept into town, at least a half dozen SUVs, windows down, with what looked like special forces out of military uniform, in plain clothes, with their weapons pointed out of the window, clearly no chance was being taken with Condoleezza Rice's security. She swept into town here today, Wolf.
BLITZER: And she's here in Jerusalem right now. Nic thanks very much. Our chief national correspondent John King is here in Jerusalem as well. He's covering Condoleezza Rice's trip to the region. You are going to be watching her all week long. What are the chances, what are you hearing that this could be a prolonged shuttle, along the lines of what some of her predecessors did, like Henry Kissinger in negotiating disengagement agreements with Egypt and Syria after the '73 war, or Warren Christopher, or James Baker, is that what she has in mind?
JOHN KING, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, not exactly. Because in all three of those situations you just mentioned the U.S. secretary of state, at the time, went to Damascus, Syria as part of the shuttle diplomacy. She's not planning that. There will be no high level U.S. negotiations, conversations with Syria right now. This isn't traditional shuttle diplomacy in that she's not going leave Jerusalem here and go back to Beirut, or leave Jerusalem and go to another Arab capital.
She will go to Rome though, where they hope to broker this deal to get a cease-fire and some sort of international force. Can they get that done Wednesday or Thursday in Rome? At the United Nations they are saying maybe. U.S. officials are more skeptical. Then she goes to Asia for previously scheduled meetings and U.S. officials are saying if she believes progress can be made and she can be helpful she could be back here by this weekend.
BLITZER: So you could be staying in this region for a while to, waiting for her to come back. What are you hearing? I know you are in touch with members of her delegation, how did today go?
KING: They think today went OK, not great. They think from a picture standpoint, they get the dramatic news that she went in to Beirut. That was not on the public schedule, although it was planned all along. They didn't put it on the public schedule for security reasons. But the Lebanese prime minister said the number one think he wanted from the United States was not political support, he wanted support for a cease-fire. He did not get that, Secretary Rice saying she will not call for an immediate cease-fire.
So the Lebanese government did not get what it wants. Another undercurrent to this, that's probably not getting so much attention, because we are watching the minute by minute diplomacy and the minute by minute fighting. She is here in the region, traditionally a U.S. secretary of state would go to Jordan or go to Egypt, or go to Saudi Arabia or all three of those moderate Arab allies. All three sent word to the White House, Secretary Rice is not welcome, unless she is prepared to change her position and call for an immediate Israeli cease-fire. So one of the reasons you won't see shuttle diplomacy, there aren't many places for her to shuttle to.
BLITZER: But interestingly before she left Washington she and the president did meet with Saudi foreign minister, Prince Bandar, a national security adviser to King Abdullah. The fact that the Saudis did come to the White House, did come to Washington, what should we read into that.
KING: That the Saudis are trying to be very helpful and U.S. officials say they will be critical, along with Jordan and Egypt, in pressuring Syria to try to break from Hezbollah. Also very significant, that all three of those nations have placed the blame on Hezbollah, saying Hezbollah started this confrontation by attacking Israel, by kidnapping those soldiers.
So rhetorically, the administration is happy with the public statements of those governments, although Saudis did want an immediate cease-fire and they didn't get that. But the problem for the administration is that on the Arab street this Bush administration is very unpopular, so it makes no sense for Secretary Rice to go visit those governments at a time when there would be protests in the street and any help they might to give could be undermined by a lack of public support.
BLITZER: John King covering the visit by the secretary of state to the region. John, thanks very much. Our senior national correspondent John Roberts also here in Israel. He's in the northern part of Israel, not very far from the Lebanese border. John what's the latest from there, I understand there was some intense fire- fighting going on?
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: There has been some intense fire-fighting going on Wolf, along the border and across the border, deeper in to southern Lebanon. We just came back from visiting with an artillery battery which wasn't too far away from the border with Lebanon. We spent much of the afternoon and much of this evening there. They continued to, on a 24-hour around the clock basis, lob those artillery shells into southern Lebanon.
They really have two missions. One is to try to knock out those Katyusha batteries that continue to fire rockets into Israel. The latest count on those is that 83 Katyushas came across the border today, 24 people were wounded, one seriously. But unlike yesterday, there were no fatalities. Most of those rockets went in to Nahariyah, Safad, Tiberius, right along the Sea of Galilee there, and Kiryat Shmona, a little bit south of our position. There were no missiles that went in to the city of Haifa today, so people rested fairly easily there.
The towns of Avivim and Youruon (ph), which are very close to that Maroon al-Ras hilltop town that the Israelis took over the last few of days, were closed to most press. Our Christiane Amanpour managed to get in there, and she'll have a report on that a little bit later on.
But it -- the Israeli Defense Forces were saying it shows just how dangerous it is that they had to clear most of the people out of there. We managed work our way around to a hilltop position in a kibbutz, looking over the border. And we could see a lot of shelling going on there. We took some pictures of covert gunships firing rockets into Southern Lebanon, as well. We saw a couple of F-16s high in the sky on bombing missions. They continue to probe deep into Lebanon, all the way up to Beirut and continue their bombing missions. Now, in terms of the ground force operations, they took Maroon al-Ras over the last couple of days. Now they are pushing deeper into Lebanese territory, trying to take a Hezbollah stronghold in the southern part of the country called Bint Jubail. There has been intense fighting there. A couple of Israeli soldiers were killed during that fighting.
The IDF really wants to get a firm hold on that town. They think if they can do that, they'll go a long way to being able to control some of that rocket fire that's coming across the border. But really, Wolf, there's so many places for them to launch those Katyushas, it really is difficult to get a handle on all of those launch positions.
A couple of other deaths today for the Israeli Defense Forces. A couple of their pilots in an apache attack helicopter went down. The Israeli Defense Force says that it was a mechanical malfunction that caused that crash. Hezbollah, on the other side of the border, is claiming that they shot that aircraft down.
You can still, even up here in the town of Matula (ph), hear the artillery outgoing, and then a few seconds later, you hear it landing, that dull thud on the other side of the border. So even this late at night now -- it's after 11:00 here in Northern Israel -- the fighting continues, Wolf, and it's expected to continue around the clock.
Back to you.
BLITZER: It looks to be a long night for you, John. Thanks very much. We're going to be coming back to you here in THE SITUATION ROOM. John Roberts on the border between Israel and Lebanon.
Let's go to New York. Jack Cafferty is standing by with "The Cafferty File" -- Jack.
JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: Thanks, Wolf.
The United States finds itself on both sides of a rather tricky issue when it comes to the ongoing fighting in the Middle East, particularly in Southern Lebanon. On the one hand, the U.S. is supplying Israel with most of the weapons that are now being used in the war against Hezbollah in Southern Lebanon.
At the same time, the Bush administration is making humanitarian aid to the Lebanon people a priority. The president has ordered that the humanitarian effort begin tomorrow, part of what's being called a significant U.S. commitment to relief efforts.
So in a nutshell, the U.S. wants to help the civilians who are being injured by Israeli weapons, many of which come directly from the United States. Try to follow along here, this isn't easy.
Here's the question. How compatible are U.S. weapons for Israel and U.S. humanitarian aid for Lebanon? E-mail your thoughts on that to caffertyfile@cnn.com, or go to CNN.com/caffertyfile. We'll read some of your responses in a bit -- Wolf.
BLITZER: Jack Cafferty in New York, thank you very much.
Coming up, we're going to have a live report from Haifa, where once again, air raid sirens blared out today, residents there continuing to live in fear.
Plus the former Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu. He's standing by to join us live here in Jerusalem. We'll get his take on Secretary Rice's diplomatic mission and whether any progress is being made.
And we'll also go live to Cyprus to see the last throes of the evacuation of U.S. citizens from Lebanon. We'll look ahead to the next mission for the U.S. military as well.
Stay with us. You're in a special edition of THE SITUATION ROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: Welcome back. I'm Wolf Blitzer reporting today from Jerusalem.
It's day 13 and it's seen major new developments in the Middle East crisis. The secretary of state, Condoleezza Rice, is in Jerusalem right now, meeting with Israeli leaders. She's also been meeting with Palestinian officials in the West Bank. Earlier today, Rice talked about crisis with Lebanon's prime minister in Beirut.
The U.S. government is pledging $30 million in humanitarian aid to Lebanon. Relief deliveries are expected to start as early as tomorrow. Lebanese security forces say Israeli airstrikes have killed at least 375 people in Lebanon, and injured at least 727 people. Israel reports at least 39 Israelis have been killed, and says more than 300 people have been wounded.
Let's go to CNN's Fionnuala Sweeney. She's in Haifa, Israel, where once again air-raid sirens wailed earlier today. What's the latest in Haifa, Fionnuala?
FIONNUALA SWEENEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, you will recall, Wolf, yesterday some two people were killed and dozens injured in a series of air-raid barrages around this city. Today only one rocket fell near Haifa. There were no injuries. But more than 60 rockets did fall across the band of Northern Israel, hitting all of Israel's northern communities, the main communities. And there are people in the north taking shelter in bomb shelters, 24/7.
The focus really here now on the diplomatic front, but I can tell you in Haifa there is very little moving. You can go down to the streets and see that while there are some cars moving around, there isn't really very much happening.
And it's affecting business in quite a substantial way. A third of Northern Israel's businesses driven by petro chemical and heavy industry. And while people are still going to work, it has to be said that much of that has slowed down. So it can only be matter of time before it has a bigger impact on Israel's economy -- Wolf. BLITZER: Fionnuala, thank you very much. Fionnuala Sweeney in Haifa.
Joining us here in Jerusalem, the former Israel prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu. He's now the leader of the opposition Likud in Israel's Knesset.
But you support the government of Prime Minister Ehud Olmert in this operation?
BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, FORMER ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER: Absolutely. In this time of war, when Israel is facing rocket attacks by Hezbollah terrorists, everybody in Israel is united. There is no opposition and there is no coalition. We are one people.
BLITZER: Let's talk about the criticism that's coming in against Israel. Jan Egeland, as you know, the U.N. emergency relief coordinator, he says that the infrastructure, the civilian infrastructure in Lebanon, much of it has been destroyed. The amount of damage to civilian housing and so on is far beyond what we normally see in wars. He says it has to be more proportionate. The criticism is it's one thing to go after Hezbollah, but it's another thing to destroy Lebanon's infrastructure.
NETANYAHU: Hezbollah is responsible for all damage on both sides of the border. They're deliberately targeting Israeli civilians, but they're also deliberately hiding and placing their rockets among Lebanese civilians. Israeli is trying to surgically take them out, but obviously some civilian casualties are inevitable, as is physical damage.
But Mr. Egeland says that this is not common in wars? Is that he's saying?
BLITZER: That's what he's saying.
NETANYAHU: Yes. I agree. It is not.
BLITZER: I'll read to you -- he said, "The amount of damage to civilian housing" and so on, "It's far beyond what we normally see in wars."
NETANYAHU: It's far lower than what we see in wars. Let's take some wars. Syria that critics Israel. It leveled in one afternoon, half of a city called Hama, a Syrian city, against domestic.
BLITZER: That was 20 -- almost 25 years ago.
NETANYAHU: And they knocked out 15,000 people in a shot. I think Russia has some problems with Chechen rebels and Chechan terrorists. The reports of casualties are at least into the thousands.
BLITZER: But Israel doesn't want to be equated with Syria.
NETANYAHU: No, but how about being equated with the United States and Britain? Britain had its cities rocketed in World War II by the Nazis, V-2 rockets. It leveled Dresden. It leveled German cities. Level them, level them.
Now, by the way, I am not make a moral judgment. It was total war by a fanatic Nazi regime that was forced on Britain. The United States had two rockets launched into -- it's not rockets, makeshift rockets, aircraft, launched into New York City dealing, obviously, terrible damage.
But the United States went halfway around the world, destroyed the Taliban regime, occupied Iraq and there were many, many civilian casualties. The difference is that neither Britain nor America nor many other democracies don't target civilians directly. They have hurt civilians indirectly and not intentionally. In the case of Israel, yes, there are tragically, 300-some civilian casualties.
But thousands and thousands and thousands, tens of thousands, and in some cases hundreds of thousands civilian casualties, when the cities of democracy have been hit by rockets. I think that Israel has been given a bum wrap.
BLITZER: But you agree that you're not going to war against Lebanon as a country or as the government. You're targeting Hezbollah directly, so the question, let me rephrase it, why go after Lebanese civilian infrastructure when you really want to go after the Hezbollah militants, their rockets, their weapons? Why destroy a bridge or a power reactor or a television station?
NETANYAHU: How do you think the rockets get to Hezbollah? From Syria. They've been supplied as we speak from Syria.
How do you think Hezbollah sends out its propaganda? Through television and radio stations and so on. But the main damage to civilians, if you want to deal with damage to concrete, that's one thing. But I think you want to deal with the damage to lives. The main damage to lives, civilian lives is because of the deliberate and cynical Hezbollah placement of their rocket launchers. The criminal rocket launchers amid civilians, and so they should be given the blame. But I think beyond that...
BLITZER: ... Let's get to a few other critical issues. Some sort of international peacekeeping or peacemaking force in Lebanon that's on the table. The defense minister of Israel, Amir Peretz, suggesting that Israel would welcome that. Preferably he said, one lead by NATO. How do you feel about an international force coming into Lebanon to protect Israel's northern border?
NETANYAHU: I think the problem is, as the government correctly said, the task is to remove the threat from Israeli cities, and Israeli civilians, especially to remove the rocket threats, The first problem we have to understand is while we push Hezbollah back on the border, which is fine, we are not dealing with a main strategic threat that has been revealed here, and that is longer-range rockets, beyond the security zone that have been fired and are being fired on Israeli civilians. BLITZER: Are you saying the international stabilization force, whatever they want to call it, would not be something you would welcome?
NETANYAHU: No, I didn't say that. But I'm saying that it would deal at best with only part of the job. Also it doesn't really disarm Lebanon -- rather the Hezbollah militia, terrorist force in Lebanon as Resolution 1559, U.N. resolution, stipulates.
It can only come after we disarm it or after we push it back and disarm it. And I think the main problem is equivalent to what the U.S. faced with Cuba, when you had a foreign power bringing rockets close to the American mainland, to American cities that weren't even fired.
And President Kennedy made sure that those rockets were taken out. I think this is our problem. The main thing we have to assure is that those rockets were taken out. If an international force can help there, I have no problem. I have my doubts if it can do it, but I would be happy to see it do it.
BLITZER: Some Israeli analysts are suggesting now that day 13 of this war with Hezbollah, that it's proving to be from Israel's perspective, a lot more difficult than many earlier thoughts.
NETANYAHU: Well it is, because we are doing exactly the opposite of what we've been accused of doing. We're using a fraction of a fraction of a fraction of our firepower. If we used the firepower that we have, we could just level Lebanon. But we don't. We don't. The reason you have casualties in the hundreds is because we're trying to pinpoint our targets.
The reason you don't have casualties in the thousands or beyond that is precisely because Israel has moral restraints on its military actions. It's because we don't want to hurt civilians. It's because regret it when we see civilians hurt, but we have to protect our people. So what we try to do is actually take a balance between our moral inhibitions and the application of power and the use of power justly to protect our cities and that's why it's going slower.
BLITZER: How much longer do you think this is going to continue?
NETANYAHU: As long as it needs to take.
BLITZER: Are you talking days, weeks?
NETANYAHU: Look, I think -- I don't know. There is real geopolitical -- I don't know what it is, but I think something has happened here, and I'm not sure that this discussion begins to capture what is happening here.
Hezbollah doesn't last two days without Iran and Syria. It is an Iranian operation, as is by the way, Hamas. Iran has done a trial balloon. It has fired rockets on a western country, on a democratic country without any provocation with warheads of several hundred kilos at best, or 100 pounds.
Iran is preparing now missiles that far outreach Israel deep into Europe and ultimately to the eastern seaboard of the United States. They're developing nuclear payloads for those missiles. What response is this mad militancy that believes it should reverse history by 1,000 years and go back to some twisted vision of Islam? What response is it receiving from the international community?
Paradoxically, it is only the Arab states who have condemned Hezbollah and are really condemning Iran, who understand what we understand. That Iran and its proxies must be stopped today and if people come and attack Israel for defending itself against Iranian sponsored terror attacks and does not see that their future, their well-being, their security down the line is what's at stake, then they will miss the entire point.
I think the issue is definitely the sovereignty and future of Lebanon, which we care for, because we want to see Lebanon as a good neighbor. But Hezbollah is a foreign implantation and it is an Iranian implementation and this Iranian disease, this militancy that threatens the entire world has to be stopped today.
BLITZER: We're going to continue this in the next few days. The former prime minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu, thanks for coming in.
And still ahead, we'll get the view from the other side of the border. I will speak with the Lebanese leader who met with the Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice earlier today in Beirut.
Also, from rescue to relief. We'll get a live report on the changing U.S. military mission here in the Middle East. And a U.S. congressman of Lebanese heritage gets a close-up view of the Middle East crisis. What did Republican representative Darrell Issa of California take away from his meeting with officials in Israel? I'll talk with him live. That's coming up. Stay with us. You're in THE SITUATION ROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: Welcome back to the THE SITUATION ROOM. I'm Wolf Blitzer, reporting today live from Jerusalem.
We're following all the latest developments in the crisis in the Middle East.
Among the latest, the secretary of state, Condoleezza Rice, she is here in Jerusalem right now, continuing what some are already suggesting is the start of shuttle diplomacy. The first stop for -- for the secretary of state, earlier today, was in Beirut. She met with top Lebanese officials, including the prime minister.
The Bush administration, meanwhile, says it still opposes an immediate cease-fire, but it is promising humanitarian aid. The secretary's top Middle East adviser is saying, though, that the United States is pledging $30 million in -- in humanitarian efforts to Lebanon. And the U.S., he says, will start delivering those supplies, including some 100,000 medical kits, as soon as tomorrow.
Meanwhile, Israeli forces and Hezbollah fighters battled on the ground in southern Lebanon once again today. At least two more Israeli soldiers were killed, bringing Israel's death toll right now to 39. At least 375 Lebanese have been killed in nearly the two-week- old conflict.
On this day 13 of the conflict, let's go to CNN's Christiane Amanpour.
She is joining us from northern Israel -- Christiane.
CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, we spent yet again another day right now near the front line, as we watched from Avivim what was going on, not just in Maroun al-Ras, but also beyond.
We -- we could here, and we were told, about the fighting there. And what we are being told by the commanders is that the fighting is very fierce -- in some instances, it's face-to-face -- that Hezbollah is putting up some stiff resistance with not just its fighters, but also with its anti-tank, and RPGs, and other weapons, and all sorts of things like that.
We also know, as you reported, that they are taking casualties, but they are going after this town of Bint Jbail because they say that it is the Hezbollah stronghold in southern Lebanon. It's some four kilometers inside.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
AMANPOUR (voice-over): Putting on the war paint, preparing to go in -- these Israeli infantry soldiers have been bussed up to the front, and await orders to move on and support battalions of ground troops already across the border in southern Lebanon.
From this vantage point, their commanding general points out the hill on the other side and says, finally, they have Maroun al-Ras, and are pushing on to the next strategic town Bint Jbail.
BRIGADIER GENERAL ALON FRIEDMAN, DEPUTY COMMANDER, ISRAELI NORTHERN COMMAND (through translator): We are taking them out of their positions. And this causes the fire to less accurate. He has to move north and fires less deep into Israel. Slowly, we are moving them to where we want them.
AMANPOUR: He says his forces are taking casualties, but Hezbollah's are much higher. He says he needs at least another week to finish the job.
(on camera): After several days of the ground war, as Israel tries to gain a foothold in southern Lebanon, and after nearly two weeks of the air war, the first round of diplomacy is also getting under way.
(voice-over): As the war continues, and the U.S. secretary of state comes to drum up a solution, some Israeli observers, like former Minister Yosi Sareed (ph), question the wisdom of America's green light, and wonder about Israel's real aims.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hezbollah is an integral part of the Lebanese society. So, whether I like it or not, it's impossible to uproot Hezbollah out of the Lebanese society.
AMANPOUR: Israeli military commanders say they are making headway faster than they expected, laying the groundwork for a political solution.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
AMANPOUR: So, what they are trying to do strategically, in order to weaken and degrade Hezbollah, we are told by the military, what they need to do is take them out completely along the border.
So, that is what they're trying to do. And, by doing that, we are being told, they are pushing back the rocket firing capability, as you heard General Friedman say in that -- in that report just there. He says that they will not be able to end all the Katyusha rocket fire.
And we can see that, because it's still happening near where we are, in Kiryat Shmona, and elsewhere. But they say, as they keep pushing them back, it means that they -- the Hezbollah has to make much more effort to -- to fire. And, potentially, that effort will make them visible, and, then, they can be targeted that way as well -- Wolf.
BLITZER: Christiane Amanpour in northern Israel -- she is going to be back in THE SITUATION ROOM in a little bit.
Thanks, Christiane, very much.
Israeli Defense Forces are revealing many details of their military operations online.
And it's just one more way the Internet is changing how we observe modern warfare.
Let's bring in our Jacki Schechner. She has got more on this part of the story -- Jacki.
JACKI SCHECHNER, CNN INTERNET REPORTER: Wolf, good to see you.
The video that you are watching behind me -- I am going to play this for you -- and it's an Israeli missile attack in Lebanon, this video coming directly from the Israeli Defense Forces Web site.
You can see the site here, if I pull it up for you. It's constantly updating with all military operations in and around Lebanon and Gaza. They are posting the latest news online, for example, about the helicopter crash in the north. There were two casualties there. They are also talking about the last 24 hours. They post summaries of updates, talking about how 90 missiles have fallen within Israel in the last 24 hours, and the IDF has struck some 270 targets within Lebanon -- Wolf.
BLITZER: Jacki, thanks very much.
We want to talk to a United States congressman, now, from California, who has just been here in Jerusalem with a delegation from the House Intelligence Committee.
Republican Congressman Darrell Issa brings a very unique perspective to this Middle East crisis. He grew up in a Lebanese Christian family, in a Jewish neighborhood in Ohio.
Congressman Issa is joining us now from Cambridge in England.
I know you were here yesterday in Israel, meeting with top Israeli officials and Palestinians. You went up to the north. Did you leave here more or less encouraged about the prospects of some stability in this part of the world?
REP. DARRELL ISSA (R), CALIFORNIA: Well, I -- I must say that I -- I see a lot of good coming out of this. The dismantling of major capabilities of Hezbollah is a good thing for Lebanon.
Where I have some concerns is that I -- I'm not sure Israel has an end game yet. This is part of what Secretary of State Rice has to do, is be part of bringing an end game.
We know that, in 18 years, Israel was unable to completely defeat Hezbollah. So, whether it's 18 weeks or 18 days, we know that they won't eliminate it.
So, a political solution is obviously important. I am thrilled to have Secretary Rice first in -- in Beirut, to get a first-hand look at what the other end of this war looks like, and then to come to Israel to help them recognize that there has to be a political solution. They have to be willing to engage in a way as necessary to make that happen.
But, Wolf, make no mistake. Hezbollah is a cancer on Lebanon. And, as much as the Lebanese people are suffering, they are also benefiting by the reduction in Hezbollah's power on the streets in Beirut.
BLITZER: I know you -- you represent a lot of the views of Lebanese- Americans right now. Give us a little flavor of how you think the American-Lebanese community is reacting to what's happening here.
In other words, are they angry at Israel for doing what they are doing? Are they angry at Hezbollah? Are they angry at both?
ISSA: They're angry at both.
Certainly denouncing, as all four Lebanese-Americans in the House of Representatives, both parties, made it clear that Hezbollah is a problem, Hezbollah preempted this, and Hezbollah is to blame, obviously, what we see, we see attacks that went beyond what should have been the very minimal targets to hit. The -- the hits on the -- the -- the fuel tanks at the airport, there was no military basis in defeating Hezbollah by attacking those fuel tanks. This was a day after they had disabled the airport.
So, there have been some mistakes made by the Israelis. I'm list -- listing one, but, of course, there were plenty in war.
Having said that, the mistakes made in war, certainly, and the -- the people that are being punished, that's a mistake. But Hezbollah has been a problem, an internal problem of the Lebanese, one that comes from Syria and from Iran, that has to be dealt with.
And I know that, when Secretary Rice met with Prime Minister Siniora, he had to say: Help me engage to help my country finish the Cedar Revolution that we began a year ago, in the -- the aftermath of the assassination, a year ago, February, of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.
Lebanon has done all it can do without Western help.
BLITZER: Is it -- what is your position, Congressman, on a cease-fire, an immediate cease-fire? The Lebanese prime minister, Fuad Siniora, begging for one, when I spoke with him yesterday -- I assume that's what he told the secretary of state today as well.
She's rejecting any immediate cease-fire that she says doesn't deal with the root problems, which is, namely, Hezbollah's military danger toward Israel.
How do you feel about a cease-fire?
ISSA: Well, Wolf, I think that both people are talking past each other. An immediate cease-fire doesn't deal with the resupply of Hezbollah through the Syrian border. It doesn't deal with the fact that -- that, today, Hezbollah is still shelling Haifa and other areas in the north of -- of Israel.
However, a green line -- sections that are no-fire zones, concentrating on specific areas in the south where those weapons are originating, and along the border, if there is any attempt to resupply -- is an in-between that I am hoping Secretary Rice can reach.
I don't believe we're going to get a cease-fire, but a cessation of -- of areas. If you will, right now, Lebanon is a free-fire zone. They have hit as far north as Tripoli. There has to be some -- some areas of comparative safety. And there has to be an area that, if you know you exit it, you know you exit the combat zone.
This is something that I hope Secretary Rice -- I know she can negotiate it. I talked to the Israelis when they were there. Obviously, it's difficult for them to do, but it is possible for them to get between these two requests.
BLITZER: Darrell Issa is a Republican congressman from California. He was here in Jerusalem yesterday with a delegation from the House Intelligence Committee. Congressman, have a safe trip back to the United States. Thanks very much for joining us.
BLITZER: And...
ISSA: Thank you, Wolf.
BLITZER: ... when we come back...
ISSA: Thank you.
... we will get a live report from Cyprus, where the U.S. military operation is changing gears, now that the evacuations of Americans from Lebanon is winding down.
And the former Lebanese ambassador to the United States on the crisis in his homeland and whether Condoleezza Rice's mission to the Middle East is likely to make a difference.
Stay with us. You're in THE SITUATION ROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: Welcome back to THE SITUATION ROOM. I'm Wolf Blitzer, reporting tonight from Jerusalem, where the secretary of state, Condoleezza Rice, has been meeting with top Israeli officials.
Meanwhile, more than 12,000 Americans have been evacuated from Lebanon, most of them Cyprus. Now U.S. officials say they can start channeling U.S. aid into Lebanon through Cyprus.
CNN's Barbara Starr is joining us from Larnaca, in Cyprus, with more on this important part of the story -- Barbara.
BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, that's right.
Now that some 12,000 Americans have been brought out of Lebanon, most of them -- many of them by the U.S. military -- military -- on those big amphibious warships, those very dramatic pictures that we have seen over the last several days, the military here says that phase of the operation is pretty much over.
All of the Americans that they think have most urgently wanted to get out of Lebanon are now out, either here in -- on Cyprus, or on their way home, back to the United States.
Any Americans that are left, any additional Westerners that are left, are most likely going to be brought out by a series of commercial chartered vessels that will still continue to move in and out of Lebanon, as the demand, if you will (AUDIO GAP) develops for further evacuations.
But make no mistake. There are still Lebanese-Americans, in southern Lebanon, especially. Their situation is not well understood. No one in the State Department or the Pentagon is terribly clear at this point about the danger that those several hundred Americans who appear to be in the southern part of Lebanon, what danger they may be in.
The U.S. military is very aware of it. So is the ambassador to Lebanon. We spoke to the top U.S. military commander. He reflected his great concern about this issue.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BRIGADIER GENERAL CARL JENSEN, U.S. MARINE CORPS COMMANDER, TASK FORCE 59: One of the problems in -- in southern Lebanon, particularly the further south you go, is what we're being told, is that it may be unsafe for anyone to -- really to get on the roads and to move about. It -- it has captured the ambassador's full attention. In fact, it's focused his attention, the -- the -- the plight of -- of those Americans who still may be in -- in south Lebanon.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
STARR: The general went on to say, he has plenty of military capability to deal with that situation, if he has to. He does not have a request yet to go rescue those Americans. But it's an option that no one has taken off the table here -- Wolf.
BLITZER: Barbara Starr, reporting for us from Cyprus -- important work going on, on that tiny Mediterranean island.
Thanks, Barbara, very much.
Coming up: trying to stop the fighting between Israel and Hezbollah -- the U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is in the region. She is in Jerusalem right now, where I am. She's trying to put together some sort of multinational force to patrol the border. We are going to update you on what's going on.
Meanwhile, Israelis and Lebanese enduring more days in bomb shelters, with little food or water in Lebanon -- we are going to have some personal stories for all of you when we come back.
Stay with us. You are in THE SITUATION ROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: Welcome back. I'm Wolf Blitzer, reporting tonight from Jerusalem.
We are monitoring all the latest developments in the crisis in the Middle East. The secretary of state, Condoleezza Rice, is in Israel. She's meeting with Israeli and Palestinian leaders.
Earlier, she made a surprise stop in Beirut, where she met with Lebanon's prime minister and parliament's speaker.
The U.S., meanwhile, pledging some $30 million in humanitarian aid to Lebanon -- the White House says it's part of what it calls a significant U.S. commitment to relief efforts. Israel says Hezbollah has fired 1,000 rockets into northern Israel since July 12.
Heavy fighting and gunfire continued once again today between Israeli troops and Hezbollah forces in south Lebanon. Lebanese security forces say, Israeli airstrikes have killed at least 375 people and injured at least 727 people in Lebanon. Israel reports 39 Israelis have been killed, and more than 300 Israelis have been wounded.
What's it like to be a civilian living in Beirut right now? And how are Israelis passing the time in bomb shelters in the northern part of this country? The Internet is offering a profound glimpse into how the Lebanese and the Israelis are living each day in a war zone.
Once again, let's bring back Jacki Schechner with more -- Jacki.
SCHECHNER: Wolf, Julian (ph) is 24 years old. He has got a blog called "Blogging Beirut."
He got in his car, and he drove around Beirut on a Sunday night to show you exactly what it looks like there, how dark it is, how quiet it is, how people are no longer out on the street. He also took some photographs to show you of what it looks like now in Beirut during the day.
He says, this is the most popular mall, shopping mall, in Beirut. And you can see there, it's now empty. He says, there is some socializing going on. It looks pretty crowded here. But he says that this is actually underground in Beirut, and news of these gatherings travels very quietly, very subtly, underground, he says, when there are open-air gatherings like this.
These are happening in the mountains, not in the areas in Beirut that are under attack right now.
Now, we move over to Israel, where we have got Eugene (ph), who is 17 years old. He's living in a bunker. He's updating what life is like there.
There is also Max Nathans (ph), who lives on a kibbutz not far from the Lebanon border. He talks about daily life . You can see a shot there of a missile starting a fire on a hillside Wolf,, and also the text-messages Israelis are getting to tell them to go underground.
BLITZER: Jacki, thanks very much for that.
Up next: Israeli troops and Hezbollah fighters battling, once again, in southern Lebanon -- we are going to go live to Beirut right at the top of the hour.
And Jack Cafferty asks if it makes sense for the United States to give arms to Israel and aid to Lebanon. He has your e-mail. He's next.
Stay with us. You're in THE SITUATION ROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: I'm Wolf Blitzer, reporting tonight from Jerusalem.
The secretary of state is here in Jerusalem. She has been meeting with top Israeli officials. Earlier in the day, she met with top Lebanese officials in Beirut. We are going to have a lot more coming up on the crisis in the Middle East in just a moment.
But let's go to CNN's Zain Verjee. She's joining us now from THE SITUATION ROOM back in Washington with a closer look at some other important stories making news.
Hi, Zain.
ZAIN VERJEE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Wolf.
A jury in Houston, Texas, is now deciding the fate of Andrea Yates. Prosecutors are retrying Yates on charges of drowning her five children, back in 2001. Officials have only charged Yates with three of the deaths. She was convicted in 2002. But the conviction was overturned. Defense attorneys say that Yates is not guilty by reason of insanity.
Rescuers race to help a ship in distress off the coast of Alaska. Twenty-two people are on board the Cougar Ace. The ship is carrying a load of new cars to Vancouver to Singapore. A Coast Guard cutter and a commercial ship are on the way to help the stricken vessel. Right now, the Cougar Ace is about 500 miles off the Alaskan coast.
Californians swelter under another day of high temperatures. About 100,000 people in Northern California began today without electricity, after heavy demand over the weekend triggered blackouts. More than 100 patients at a nursing home in Stockton were evacuated, after temperatures reached 115 degrees, and the air-conditioning just failed. At least one patient died. Officials aren't expecting any relief until the middle of the week -- Wolf.
BLITZER: Zain, thanks very much.
And still to come: U.S. weapons to Israel and U.S. humanitarian aid to Lebanon, are the two compatible? We are going to be checking in with Jack Cafferty in a moment.
And when the fighting between Hezbollah an Israel subsides, who will keep the peace? That's coming up at the top of the hour.
Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: Let's go to Jack Cafferty. He's in New York -- Jack.
CAFFERTY: Wolf, the question this hour is, how compatible are U.S. weapons for Israel and U.S. humanitarian aid to help rebuild Lebanon, after Israel gets through using the U.S.-made weapons to destroy the southern part of that country? We got a lot of mail.
Peter writes from Boston: "The U.S. supplying weapons to Israel is no different than Iran supplying Hezbollah. The Bush administration needs to stop and really look at what they are doing."
Dave in Williams Bay, Wisconsin: "Makes me sick to see tax dollars going to fund destruction, and then more tax dollars going to fix what we ruin -- not very smart of compatible, and, still, New Orleans is a mess. Sometimes, it's embarrassing being an American."
Tyler in North Carolina: "Ridiculously incompatible. It makes no sense. We should concentrate on diplomatic solutions to the problem, rather than helping Israel blow up more of Lebanon, and then helping Lebanon clean it up."
Helene writes: "Not compatible at all. We tell Israel: 'Go ahead. Bomb as long as you need to.' Never mind the vast majority of the deaths are civilian. Then, we send aid and try to make ourselves look like the good guy -- typical Washington hypocritical double- speak."
Sam disagrees. He writes from New York: "It's totally consistent, Jack. Hezbollah is holding Lebanon hostage. The U.S. wants to help the people of Lebanon, while, at the same time, freeing them and Israel of the terrorist organization Hezbollah. It's simplistic to say the United States is helping and hurting the Lebanese at the same time, when, really, both our aid and military assistance are serving the same long-term goal."
John writes: "I bet aid gets there faster than it did to Katrina."
And Amos writes from Kansas: "I can hear the Lebanese now: 'Thanks for the meal. Oh, and thanks for the missile in the middle of my living room. You have really gone all out.'" -- Wolf.
BLITZER: Jack Cafferty in New York -- thanks, Jack, very much.
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