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CNN Sunday Morning
Israeli Forces Make Deadly Incursion Into Gaza City
Aired January 26, 2003 - 08:07 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.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Moving on now to the Middle East. Palestinians bury their dead and survey piles of rubble in Gaza City following a deadly incursion by Israeli forces. CNN's Michael Holmes is live now in Gaza City -- Michael.
MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Heidi. Yes, I can tell you the salvos back and forth in this conflict continue. In the last hour, some five kassam rockets were fired by Palestinians into Israel on the northern border of Gaza. We saw three or four of them take off from our position here into Israel.
Now this follows the biggest, the deepest incursion by Israeli forces into Gaza City since the start of the intifada some two years ago. Twenty-five, 30 tanks, bulldozers, armored vehicles came into Gaza overnight, backed, according to Palestinians, by at least two apache helicopters. Their targets were metal workshops. Israel says these workshops are used in the manufacture of mortars and these kassam missiles, which are fired fairly regularly into Israeli areas.
They destroyed those 40 workshops. Also the homes of three Hamas militants. Palestinians say the workshops were civilian workshops and the gun battles that ensued as this operation went on left 12 Palestinians dead, 65 of them wounded, the youngest a 16-year-old boy. They had shrapnel wounds and gunshot wounds. We were at the hospital just a short time ago.
And also we witnessed the funerals as they got underway of these Palestinians. Most of them were fighters. It has to be said Palestinians claim some of them, however, were civilians.
Now senior Palestinians tell us that they believe that this was a show of strength by Ariel Sharon in the lead up to this election, which of course takes place in day or so from now. Israel denies that, says that this was a strike against what they call a major infrastructure of terror. So with these rockets being fired in the last hour by Palestinian militants, the question being asked in Gaza is will the tanks come back this night -- Heidi.
COLLINS: And a question that we will wait to hear the answer to. Thank you very much. Michael Holmes coming to us today from Gaza City.
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 January 26, 2003 - 08:07 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Moving on now to the Middle East. Palestinians bury their dead and survey piles of rubble in Gaza City following a deadly incursion by Israeli forces. CNN's Michael Holmes is live now in Gaza City -- Michael.
MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Heidi. Yes, I can tell you the salvos back and forth in this conflict continue. In the last hour, some five kassam rockets were fired by Palestinians into Israel on the northern border of Gaza. We saw three or four of them take off from our position here into Israel.
Now this follows the biggest, the deepest incursion by Israeli forces into Gaza City since the start of the intifada some two years ago. Twenty-five, 30 tanks, bulldozers, armored vehicles came into Gaza overnight, backed, according to Palestinians, by at least two apache helicopters. Their targets were metal workshops. Israel says these workshops are used in the manufacture of mortars and these kassam missiles, which are fired fairly regularly into Israeli areas.
They destroyed those 40 workshops. Also the homes of three Hamas militants. Palestinians say the workshops were civilian workshops and the gun battles that ensued as this operation went on left 12 Palestinians dead, 65 of them wounded, the youngest a 16-year-old boy. They had shrapnel wounds and gunshot wounds. We were at the hospital just a short time ago.
And also we witnessed the funerals as they got underway of these Palestinians. Most of them were fighters. It has to be said Palestinians claim some of them, however, were civilians.
Now senior Palestinians tell us that they believe that this was a show of strength by Ariel Sharon in the lead up to this election, which of course takes place in day or so from now. Israel denies that, says that this was a strike against what they call a major infrastructure of terror. So with these rockets being fired in the last hour by Palestinian militants, the question being asked in Gaza is will the tanks come back this night -- Heidi.
COLLINS: And a question that we will wait to hear the answer to. Thank you very much. Michael Holmes coming to us today from Gaza City.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
