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CNN Live Sunday

Violence Escalates in the Middle East

Aired March 31, 2002 - 17:02   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.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: The violence in the Middle East seems never ending, bringing frustration on both sides. CNN's Bill Hemmer is in Jerusalem, and is keeping a close eye on the situation from there -- Bill.

BILL HEMMER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Fredricka, we have continued to find ourselves tonight into a spiraling situation that appears to be getting deeper and deeper here in the Middle East. Getting reports right now, in the West Bank town of Qalqilya, that's an area right along the green line that separates Israel proper from the West Bank, that's near the towns of Tel Aviv and Netanya. The reports we're getting now, at least dozens of Israeli tanks on the move in Qalqilya. And also getting some reports, unconfirmed by CNN, that there is also military activity on the move in the town of Bethlehem, which is about six miles from our location, just south of here in Jerusalem.

If indeed all this is happening right now in the West Bank towns, it would go to further the word we got from government sources earlier today that said the situation in Ramallah surrounding Yasser Arafat's compound would only continue to expand to other parts of the West Bank, and indeed that appears to be the case. We'll talk about that a bit more here in a moment here.

But I want to talk about the suicide bombing. Again, as you mentioned, two today, the most serious coming in the coastal town of Haifa. This is on the northern edge of Israel. A crowded restaurant said to be involved in a mixed neighborhood here between Israeli Jews and Israeli Arabs, 15 dead, including the bomber. The group Hamas is taking responsibility for that suicide bombing today. The damage on the scene by witnesses and CNN's Ben Wedeman, who's been there for several hours today, they describe the physical damage as just absolutely devastating.

But again, that's the scene there in Haifa. Five days now, five suicide bombings in Israel proper alone. Netanya last week, Jerusalem on Friday, we saw Tel Aviv on Saturday, and today the town of Haifa, where Palestinian militants clearly hitting a number of targets throughout the region here.

Ariel Sharon, the prime minister of Israel, earlier tonight in a very direct, four-minute speech to the Israeli people laid out what he considers right know, at least in the short term, the Israeli plans to root out what he calls uproot the terrorist infrastructure that the Israeli government says is operating now throughout the West Bank. And once again, Ariel Sharon's strong words against Yasser Arafat, pointing the finger of blame directly and squarely at him, and also giving many people in the region the indication that this military action will expand before it contracts or ebbs.

Here is Ariel Sharon earlier tonight here in Israel.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ARIEL SHARON, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER (through translator): Arafat is the head of a coalition of terrorism. He operates an infrastructure of terrorism. Yasser Arafat is the enemy of Israel and the enemy of the free world. Everyone who is peace-loving, everyone who has been indicated in values of liberty and democracy must be aware of the fact that Yasser Arafat is a stumbling block to peace in the Middle East. Yasser Arafat is a danger to the entire region.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HEMMER: And right after that speech, the Palestinians quick to respond. They flat out dismissed the words of Ariel Sharon, and indeed they turned the tables on Sharon, saying he, the Israeli prime minister, has waited years for the fight that is being waged right now.

The Israeli military, they have given this operation a name, they call it Operation Protective Wall. And again, for those who thought the situation would go in a situation that would deescalate, apparently it's gone exactly the other direction here today on Easter Sunday -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right. Thanks very much, Bill Hemmer, live from Jerusalem.

Much of the focus of this latest tension is the town of Ramallah and a large compound that serves as Yasser Arafat's West Bank headquarters. The complex came under heavy Israeli attack on Friday and has been under siege ever since. CNN's Michael Holmes surveyed some of the damage that has taken place so far.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on camera): This is one of the perimeter walls of Yasser Arafat's compound. This is one part that has not been knocked down by Israel bulldozers and tanks.

On this side of the road, you can see some of the media vehicles, there are armored vehicles, and down here is a civilian vehicle, which did not fare well, obviously run over by a tank or an armored personnel carrier. There are many cars in that condition around Ramallah, dozens of them. They are being used as barricades or they're just on the side of the street.

You see behind me an Israeli armored personnel carrier. They've been rumbling up and down here all day, maneuvering inside the compound. That is the actual inside of the compound. Now, if we can zoom in there, you see a white building, and behind that you can see a more yellow colored wall. That is Yasser Arafat's building, that is where he is, and he is there with his aides and waiting to see how all this turns out.

Now, a little bit further down, you can see part of the wall that has been damaged here. There are at least seven or eight entry points to the compound. This was once a big sandstone wall, and it's not much of it left at the moment.

Now, there have been firefights all around Ramallah today. We can hear tank shells going off from time to time. It has been very active in the city. Not so active here, however.

Now as we move down, you can see a little bit more of the wall here, and there is a car over there that has been damaged as well. OK, Margaret, zoom down the street a little bit. That is the remains of a Land rover you can see there. And actually, if we stop and swing around here, we can show you -- this is our armored vehicle.

We came through a road block area and we were fired upon, and we got a flat tire out of that. It was a few shots fired in the direction of our vehicle, one of them finding its mark.

Around here you can see occasionally residents come out, but a curfew is under way at the moment, and you can hear up the back an APC rumbling around the exterior of this compound. It's a big compound. It's several acres. There's many buildings here. A lot of the buildings, as you can see, have been shot. There are bullet holes, there are marks on the building from heavy caliber machine gunfire.

There is an APC where you can see there, where troops have been getting in and out of that white-colored building and moving up the side of it. They have been moving up inside that building, heading up toward where Yasser Arafat's own offices are. We can't tell from here whether it is actually connected to Yasser Arafat's building, but there has been a lot of troop activity in there.

About a few hours ago now, there was an explosion in there. The Israeli military says it was a stun grenade. It was very difficult to tell. So at the moment here, it's fairly quiet. Not so elsewhere in the city.

Michael Holmes, CNN, Ramallah.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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