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CNN Sunday Morning

Violence Escalates in Middle East

Aired March 03, 2002 - 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.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Violence is escalating in the Middle East this weekend, with Israeli aircraft and tanks hitting Palestinian targets in the West Bank today. They are responding to a series of attacks by Islamic militant groups, which have killed at least 20 Israelis this weekend. Another bloody weekend in the region. CNN's Jerrold Kessel is tracking it once again for us and he has more for us now. Jerrold.

JERROLD KESSEL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Miles, the deadly attacks and the fatality and casualty tolls continuing to rise. You mentioned that there was one Palestinian killed in the Israeli bombardment.

Well, there have been a series of Israeli bombardments and action by Israeli tanks against Palestinian police positions in the West Bank. All tolled, we're getting reports of at least four Palestinian police officials killed, and at least 14 wounded in these series of Israeli attacks.

Well, these Israeli bombardments came in the wake of a series of deadly Palestinian attacks, which have left more than 20 Israelis killed in the last day, just under a day. This morning a deadly attack on the West Bank at a checkpoint on one of the lonely roads in the West Bank, an isolated checkpoint, where it seems a lone Palestinian gunman, using a sniper rifle, killed 10 Israelis, seven of them soldiers manning their checkpoint, and three civilians who were in a convoy, an Israeli convoy from Jewish settlements in the region, passing through the checkpoint, another four Israelis wounded there.

There was another shooting at a checkpoint in southern Israel. One Israeli killed there and four wounded. And all this followed last night's deadly suicide bombing in the heart of Jerusalem, in an ultra- orthodox neighborhood, where a young Palestinian from a refugee camp south of Jerusalem, near Bethlehem, blew himself up right outside a synagogue where families were emerging from a Bar Mitzvah celebration at the end of the Jewish Sabbath, and the gruesome stories are coming out just today now of who were the people killed in that suicide bombing attack.

Nine Israelis in all killed, and more than 50 wounded and among the dead is a family of four, mother and father and two small children, a woman and her small infant boy, and two cousins of their family of four, a boy and a girl, brother and sister. So all tolled, nine were killed there and more than 20 have been killed in this series of Palestinian attacks. The Palestinians had been incensed and had vowed revenge for the Israeli military incursion into two refugee camps at the end of the week. For three days, there have been battles in those refugee camps, more than 20 Palestinians, gunmen, policemen, and some civilians killed in those refugee camps. Two Israeli soldiers killed there too.

And Prime Minister Sharon has convened. The cabinet met for its regular session today. This evening he will be convening his inner- security cabinet with much on his plate and much decision making to be made by the Israeli government, of where to go further. Mr. Sharon facing demands from his ultra-right wing for a further escalation of the campaign against Yasser Arafat, the ultra-right wing demanding that Mr. Arafat, Yasser Arafat and the Palestinian Authority literally be brought down.

The word from cabinet insiders is that there's unlikely to be a major shift in Israeli policy to come out of this cabinet decision. There be continued, the word is, tough responses to Palestinian attacks, only tougher still. Miles.

O'BRIEN: CNN's Jerrold Kessel in Jerusalem, thank you very much. The U.S. State Department is condemning the Jerusalem suicide bombing and has called on Yasser Arafat and the Palestinian Authority to put a stop to terrorism. For more on the U.S. response, we got to CNN Senior White House Correspondent John King on the North Lawn. Good morning again, John.

JOHN KING, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Good morning again to you, Miles. All this violence, this weekend of violence another dose of pessimism just after a period of brief optimism. The Saudis put a new peace proposal on the table. It is to be discussed at a meeting of the Arab League. The United States sent the CIA Director and a top State Department official over to Riyadh to get an update from the Saudis on just what they mean.

There had been some hope, not that the Israelis or the Palestinians would both immediately accept this plan, especially the Israelis. They have raised some objections to the Saudi plan. But there had been some hope that just the fact that you had a new peace proposal put forward by a moderate Arab nation that included in it, not only recognition, but normalized relations between the Arab world and Israel, there had been some hope that that would at least give pause to the violence and get everybody back into the arena of diplomacy.

The Secretary of State Colin Powell telling CNN this weekend that he applauds the Saudis for putting this forward as the United States tries to bring about a ceasefire between the Israelis and the Palestinians.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SECRETARY OF STATE COLIN POWELL: What I think makes it significant is that it's coming from the Crowned Prince of Saudi Arabia at this time. I think Crowned Prince Abdullah should be congratulated and thanked for putting this on the table as a way of breaking through some of the barriers that we now have toward finding a way into the literal peace plan.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KING: Now that mental peace plan Mr. Powell was talking about, put forward by the former Senator George Mitchell here in the United States, that calls for a ceasefire. But again, with the weekend of deadly violence, there is a sense of pessimism. Just a few days ago, perhaps they could get the parties to talk again, now both the Palestinians and the Israelis blaming each other for this weekend of escalating deadly violence.

Mr. Bush will discuss whether there is any hope for a diplomatic breakthrough in the days ahead with the visiting Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. He is already here in Washington. He will meet with Mr. Bush here at the White House on Tuesday. The hope is that with this Saudi proposal on the table, the Israelis feel some political pressure to show their willingness to negotiate and that the Arab leaders, in exchange for the United States embracing this proposal, will put more pressure on the Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat to end the violence.

But, Miles, as we have been talking about for years now, every time there is a glimmer of hope, it seems there then is a period of deadly violence. Miles.

O'BRIEN: All right. CNN's John King at the White House, thank you very much. We appreciate it.

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