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CNN Live Sunday
Explosions and Devastation on Both Sides of Israeli-Lebanese Border; Diplomatic Moves
Aired July 23, 2006 - 15:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN NEWS ANCHOR: Death from the air. Explosions and devastation on both sides of the Israeli-Lebanese border, but on day 12 of the Middle East crisis, some diplomatic moves. Syria says it will press for a cease-fire and Israel suggests a strong, multinational peacekeeping force might be part of the solution.
Hello, I'm Fredricka Whitfield at the CNN center in Atlanta with a special hour of CNN LIVE SUNDAY. CNN's correspondents are located throughout the region. We'll hear from them as we bring you the latest on today's violence and explore the outlook for diplomatic solutions in the crisis in the Middle East. And our International Desk is monitoring TV stations and news all over the Middle East to give you the very latest on those breaking developments.
Here's what we know right now. Scores of Hezbollah rockets hit northern Israel again today killing two civilians and Israeli warplanes bombed several Lebanese cities, killing at least one civilian. As many as 5,000 Israeli troops are massed near the Lebanese board, but Israelis say they do not plan a full-scale ground operation. Instead they're suggesting that a strong multinational force in Southern Lebanon could be used to keep Hezbollah at bay.
U.S. secretary of state, Condoleezza Rice, leaves for talks in the Middle East later on today. She says she's looking for a lasting solution to the violence, not a temporary cease-fire.
Day 12 of the Middle East crisis. Let's begin in Haifa, target of Hezbollah rockets again today. CNN's Paula Hancocks brings us up- to-date.
PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Air raids, sirens, and dull thuds of rockets hitting, a grim reminder for residents of Haifa they're at war. Few venture out into the streets. Activity above ground is limited. The nerve center of Haifa's defense system is two stories underground in the heart of the city. Originally set up by Haifa's mayor, Yona Yahav, a year ago to be used in the case of a natural disaster. Every scrap of information comes here.
From their vantage point from the top of Haifa's highest building, police pinpoint exactly where a rocket hits, instantly relayed to a command center and immediately to the first responders.
YONA YAHAV, HAIFA MAYOR: Within two or three seconds the rescue forces are being spread all over the place the rocket hits. HANCOCKS: This is a drill the Haifa police chief tells me has been well rehearsed over the past year.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Really there is no surprise. Of course, we knew before about the (INAUDIBLE) now and we prepared for it and we knew it will be used one day against us.
HANCOCKS: No one in this room can stop the rockets. Their main concern is limiting casualties.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The people will keep the orders, stay at home, under shelters. We can stand this (INAUDIBLE) very well.
HANCOCKS: Police on the street have an identical message. Police spokesman, Mickey Rosenfeld, shows me the damage that thousands of ball barings packed into the warhead of a rocket do.
MICKEY ROSENFELD, HAIFA POLICE SPOKESMAN: Here, look at the concrete wall itself over here this was the damage that was caused once again by these small ball barings in the wall. So we can imagine what type of damage it can cause, obviously, to a human body.
HANCOCKS: The second the rocket hits these ball barings are like bullets from a gun.
ROSENFELD: If people were out here at the time of the strike, unfortunately, they would have been killed.
HANCOCKS: The reason most residents of Haifa who did not move south are staying home.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: And now Paula Hancocks joins us from Jerusalem.
And Paula, today the Israeli cabinet met. What happened?
HANCOCKS: Well, Ehud Olmert, the Israeli prime minister first of all gave his condolences to those Israelis who had been injured or lost a loved one in these rocket attacks saying they were unacceptable. Now, just after he said that during the cabinet meeting there was a further rocket attack in Haifa, another deadly rocket attack killing two and injuring more. Now, these rockets are continuing to fall, the Israeli military and the cabinet insisting that they are targeting these rocket launchers and also the rockets themselves that they know Hezbollah has. It could be estimated up to about 13,000 rockets, the military believes they have, but still Hezbollah is proving they have the capability to hit the northern Israeli towns -- Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: All this taking place while, now, reports are indicating that the condition of former prime minister, Ariel Sharon, who's been hospitalized and comatose, his condition is deteriorating.
HANCOCKS: That's right. We're hearing from doctors at the hospital in Tel Aviv where he's being kept, the long-term care facility, that he's taken a turn for the worse in the past few days. There say there has been a deterioration in his kidney function.
Now, back on January the 4th, Ariel Sharon, the former prime minister, had a massive stroke. He never regained consciousness as he slipped into a coma despite numerous operations and interestingly, he was also the defense minister and a mastermind of the original invasion of Lebanon back in 1982.
Now, we understand from doctors also he is accumulating more fluids in his body and also brain tests show a change in tissue. Some doctors say they are carrying out more tests at the moment in Tel Aviv trying to monitor his situation and see if there's any more treatment they can do on him.
WHITFIELD: Paula Hancocks in Jerusalem. Thanks so much for that update.
Now to Lebanon where Israel unleashed more deadly air strikes there, several cities among today's targets. CNN's Ben Wedeman is with us from Beirut.
Ben, what's the latest?
BEN WEDEMAN, CNN NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Fredricka, we did hear those large blasts coming from the southern suburbs of Beirut as Israeli planes conducted yet more air strikes on that area. Of course, it's southern suburbs are where many of Hezbollah's offices are located.
At sundown, I could see -- I was actually in the area, I could see several plumes of black smoke drifting across the jagged skyline down there. Earlier in the day the U.N. Emergency Relief coordinator, Jan Egeland, was touring those suburbs. There he said that the violence has got to stop in order to protect the civilian population and allow emergency relief efforts to get underway.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JAN EGELAND, U.N. EMERGENCY RELIEF: I'm here on a humanitarian mission on behalf of the secretary-general of the United Nations. What we are calling for in the United Nations is a cessation of hostilities, a stop to the attacks on either side. If it continues like this there will just be more and more civilian casualties, more and more dead children.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WEDEMAN: And as the fighting goes on, the wheels of diplomacy are beginning to creek ahead. There are several European diplomats in the region meeting with Israeli and Lebanese and Syrian officials trying to work out some sort of cessation of the fighting.
Also, U.S. secretary of state, Condoleezza Rice, should be shortly on her way to the region. She's going to be speaking with Israeli and Palestinian officials before going to Italy on the 26th of July for an international donor's conference on Lebanon. No plans of yet, Fredricka, for her to come to Lebanon. WHITFIELD: Ben, while Jan Egeland talked about the humanitarian crisis there, are there already humanitarian aid groups on the ground or is there a distribution in any way of aid already?
WEDEMAN: Well, there are local and international relief organizations already on the ground, already distributing food and other relief supplies. What the U.N. is trying to work out and apparently they haven't received a green light from the Israelis, is to open some sort of sea corridor into Lebanon through the Israeli naval blockade that would allow relief supplies to get to Lebanon because, certainly, with the current situation, with many of the roads out of the country blown, many bridges destroyed, the international airport no longer functioning, there is the potential for a severe crisis because there is no other way except through the ports to get anything into this country -- Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: Ben Wedeman, thanks so much for that update from Beirut.
Ten thousand Americans have been evacuated from Lebanon and the U.S. embassy says there's plenty of room on departing ships if anyone else wants to leave. It's urging all U.S. citizens to get out. Our Barbara Starr is onboard the USS Nashville where the U.S. military is overseeing this mass exodus.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BARBARA STARR, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The general running the effort to get thousands of trapped Americans out of Lebanon came onboard the USS Nashville to see it all firsthand.
BRIGADIER GENERAL CARL JENSEN, U.S. ARMY: Does this not make you feel like a million bucks taking care of Americans?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It does, sir. I tell you, there's nothing I've done more rewarding in my career.
STARR: But even as Brigadier General Carl Jensen smiles, he is looking ahead to the possible next, much tougher phase of the operation.
JENSON: One of the problems 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 has captured the ambassador's full attention, in fact, it's focused his attention the plight of those Americans who still may be in south Lebanon.
STARR: The latest intelligence shows that many of the Americans in southern Lebanon, where the violence has been heaviest, are Lebanese-Americans with dual citizenship. Many have made it out to Syria, but...
JENSEN: We're sure there are still hundreds left.
STARR: And that means the U.S. military may have to go get them and what if U.S. troops find themselves caught in the middle of that war?
JENSEN: There are contingency operations to do a plethora of missions. We, of course, have considerable capability here in the eastern Mediterranean.
STARR: Jensen is sending Hezbollah, Israel, and the Lebanese a clear message. If he is ordered into southern Lebanon and if his troops are challenged, no option is off the table. There is plenty of U.S. military capability to respond.
JENSEN: I have at my disposal seven capital war ships of the United States Navy. Aboard a few of those ships is 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit. That's a special operations capable unit and it has its own reinforced helicopter squadron, tanks, armored vehicles.
STARR (on camera): If you get orders to go extract Americans from southern Lebanon, can the United States military do the job?
JENSEN: I think you know the answer to that. We will do what we need to do.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: And that was Barbara Starr reporting. For more extensive coverage on the crisis in the Middle East stay with CNN.
Starting tonight at 8:00 Eastern, CNN presents "Inside Hezbollah" with Anderson Cooper and at 9:00 Larry King explores diplomatic efforts to end the crisis in a special edition of "Larry King Live," and then at 10:00 Eastern tonight, Anderson Cooper is on the front lines at Beirut with the latest developments in the crisis in the Middle East.
As U.S. secretary of state, Condoleezza Rice, prepares to visit the Middle East, what message is she taking to the leaders involved in the conflict? Also, I'll get some perspective on what may be ahead from an expert observer in the region. And later, Saddam Hussein rushed to the hospital
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: This is what we know right now. More deadly attacks on both sides of the Israeli-Lebanese border. In Lebanon, Israeli warplanes targeted several areas including the port city of Tyre and Beirut suburbs. In northern Israel dozens of rockets slammed into the region around Haifa today. And evacuees are still moving out of harm's way. The U.S. embassy is urging Americans who have not left got go ahead and do so.
U.S. Secretary of state, Condoleezza Rice, leaves for the Middle East later on today, but first she and President Bush are meeting with Saudi officials at the White House. Our Kathleen Koch joins us live from the White House with more on those discussions -- Kathleen.
KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Fredricka, the meetings began about five minutes ago and they marked a clear ratcheting up of U.S. involvement in efforts to try to bring peace to the region. Right now, the president and as you mentioned, secretary of state are meeting with the Saudi foreign minister and the chief of the Saudi National Security Council. And U.S. ally, Saudi Arabia, is really seen as a key here as one of the few countries who have some sway with Syria, one of Hezbollah's chief sponsors and thus might be able to persuade it to get the -- or pressure it to persuade terrorist organization to free the kidnapped Israeli soldiers and to stop shelling Israel.
Rice does head to the region after the meeting today, to begin several days of talks. The secretary of state plans meetings in Jerusalem and on the West Bank with Israeli prime minister, Ehud Olmert, and also with Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas. Rice then heads on to an international conference in Rome and one topic high on that agenda that there be the possibility of an international peacekeeping force in southern Lebanon. However the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations says that there has been no decision yet on whether U.S. troops will be involved.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOHN BOLTON, U.S. AMBASSADOR TO U.N.: We haven't discussed the possibility of U.S. boots on the ground in Lebanon, but I think that we want to be open minded on what's doable here. The main point being to see that Hezbollah does not return to its armed militant capacity, threatening Israel, and that the institutions of the government of Lebanon cover the whole country. I think you'll want to avoid a situation where a multinational force takes over responsibility, but really we ought to be encouraging and assisting the government of Lebanon to take up.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KOCH: Now, Rice is not planning on pushing for a cease-fire. That's been one of the things the U.S. has been very firm on from the start. Senior administration officials tell CNN that she'll instead insist there must first be fundamental change on the ground there in Lebanon, in other words, a weakened Hezbollah in order to -- before there is -- the area is stabilized and then the next phase, the next diplomatic phase can begin -- Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: All right, Kathleen Koch at the White House. Thanks so much.
KOCH: You bet.
WHITFIELD: Well, with all of this talk of the Middle East, then there's Iraq where violence is not letting up and news regarding the condition of Saddam Hussein. We'll get an update from Baghdad and there is other news. I'll have details of a scary series of shootings right here in the states.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: Several new developments out of Iraq today, heavy casualties from car bomb attacks and Saddam Hussein hospitalized and on a feeding tube. CNN's Arwa Damon has details from Baghdad.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ARWA DAMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Saddam Hussein as president defying the world. Saddam Hussein, defend, but still defiant. Now Iraq's former dictator is reported to be in a weakened state after beginning a hunger strike on July 7. Hospitalized, according to the chief prosecutor, the U.S. military says he is voluntarily receiving nutrition through a feeding tube and says his condition is non-life-threatening.
Beyond Saddam's high security confinement, the chaos continues on the streets of Baghdad. This man is one of the lucky ones, he was able to walk away. Others improvise to evacuate the dead and wounded after a suicide car bomber detonated in one of Baghdad's largest markets in Sadr City.
Frantic screams, mixing in with the wailing of sirens as rescue workers try to salvage what was left. Dozens of Iraqis killed, scores more wounded just because they took a trip to the market, another indiscriminate attack sparing no one, women, children. The survivors will physically heal, but like countless others forever carry the traumatic images.
More Iraqis will bury their dead, trying to find sense in what they have lost. The tragic images repeated just over four hours later in the northern city of Kirkuk. Over the last week, at least 200 Iraqis killed, Sunni victims, Shia victims, unidentified victims as the violence continues to spiral.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have not witnessed that reduction of violence one would have hoped for in a perfect world.
DAMON (on camera): Life here is anything but perfect. Many Iraqis, especially in the capital of Baghdad, calculating risk versus reward, even when it comes to the most basic of day to day tasks, like going to the grocery store, asking themselves if the trip is really worth the risk.
Arwa Damon, CNN, Baghdad.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: Our extensive coverage of the Middle East crisis continues, but first a look at other stories making news right now. Indiana police are looking for an interstate sniper. Officials say two pickup trucks were shot early this morning on I-65, about 60 miles south Indianapolis. One person was killed another wounded. Police also are trying to determine if two other interstate shootings are related. Power crews are still working to get electricity back on in queens, New York. Political leaders there are urging Governor George Pataki to declare the affected section of the city a disaster area. That would make residents eligible for federal aid. Electricity has been restored to half of the estimated 100,000 people affected by the week-long blackout. Tuberculosis fears aboard the USS Ronald Reagan back in port in San Diego after a six-month deployment. The Navy says it will test all 4,800 of the ship's crew members and more than a thousand of their family and friends. This comes after a sailor was hospitalized with active TB. Several other sailors tested positive for the disease last week.
Another American wins the Tour de France. Floyd Landis pedaled to victory today with an injured hip. The 30-year-old says he never stopped believing his win to keep cycling's most prestigious title in American hands for the eighth straight year.
And Tiger is on top again. Tiger Woods won the British Open today for the second straight year and he became very emotional. It comes a month after he missed the cut for first time in a major tournament while grieving the loss of his father.
The crisis in the Middle East is having a big impact on both sides of the Israel-Lebanon border. On the Israeli side, why some are opposed to the fight and what others say their nation has no choice, but to strike. And in Lebanon, how the stress of the attacks is changing lives in fundamental ways.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: Now an update on day 12 of the Middle East crisis as U.S. secretary of state Condoleezza Rice gets ready to leave for the Middle East, there are new signs of possible diplomatic movement. Syria says it will press for a cease-fire and Israel signaled support for a stronger, multinational force in south Lebanon as a way of controlling Hezbollah. There were new Israeli air strikes in Lebanon, meantime. Lebanese officials say the attacks have killed at least 271 people since July 12.
More than 60 Hezbollah rockets landed in northern Israel today and two Israeli civilians were killed.
Well, what are the expectations of Secretary Rice's trip? Amatzia Baram is a professor of Middle East studies at the University of Haifa, he joins us no from Haifa, Israel.
Well, Mr. Baram, what will her presence mean?
AMATZIA BARAM, UNIVERSITY OF HAIFA: Can you repeat that, Fredricka? You have to speak a little more clearly.
WHITFIELD: What do you expect Dr. Rice's presence to mean there in Israel?
BARAM: Well, we expect Dr. Rice mainly to agree on the kind of international force that would be in place in southern Lebanon, to replace Israeli army which is now clearing the first three miles north of the border and this force we have also to help the Lebanese government to send its soldiers down to the south and to disarm Hezbollah according to the Resolution 1559. That's the Israeli expectation of Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and I think this is doable, because in week, two, three, but it is doable and I believe that the Europeans should put their soldiers and money where their mouth is and help pacify the border.
WHITFIELD: If the objective is diplomacy here, is it doable, in your view to bring the parties to the table including Israel, including the U.S., Syria, Lebanon, Iran, all to the table so that diplomacy can have a chance?
BARAM: I don't think Iran, this time, will be a part of the discussions. Syria, very likely, yes, but again, the Syrians would like some down payment and some major American concessions. I'm not sure how many concessions America can make to Syria
PROF. AMATZIA BARAM, UNIVERSITY OF HAIFA: I don't think Iran this time will be a part of the discussions. Syria, very likely, yes, but again, the Syrians would like some down payments and some major American concessions. I'm not sure how many concessions America can make to Syria. But it would have to be somehow a part of the equation, yes.
Europe is very important. America is crucial, of course, and maybe also Egypt and Jordan -- maybe Saudi Arabia, too. You can build -- the secretary -- Dr. Rice can build a very impressive coalition now. And this is a chance to do it. Israel will never accept a repeat of the old status quo. It's just unbearable from Israel's point of view. And actually it is very, very bad for the Lebanese population as well. So I think it should be done and it can be done.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR, CNN LIVE SUNDAY: Speaking of Syria, we've heard from Syria on a couple of different fronts today. One, on talking about getting militarily involved if Israel were to cross the border and come within 12 miles of say, Damascus. And another front, that Syria says it's willing to talk to Hezbollah if Israel would give up the Golan Heights. So when Syria talks about these things, are they to be taken seriously? Are these genuine offers?
BARAM: To my mind, no. Certainly not very seriously, but I must say, about a few miles from the Syrian border -- I don't think this is going to happen -- Israel is not going repeat what it did in 1982, which is biting far too much. So the danger of a confrontation with Syria is very minimal. When it comes to returning the Golan Heights, well, let's talk about it, but last time their demands were totally unrealistic, and as a result the whole thing failed. So Israel has opened the negotiations any time.
WHITFIELD: All right, Amatzia Baram, and Middle East Studies of Haifa University, thank you so much.
BARAM: You are most welcome.
WHITFIELD: The nearly two weeks of fighting along the Israeli- Lebanese border has people on both sides gripped by fear. Every day civilians are caught in the crossfire. CNN's John Vause has some reaction now from the Israeli side.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOHN VAUSE, CNN INT'L. CORRESPONDENT (voice over): These are lonely voices in Israel, protesters against the war, just a few hundred in Tel Aviv.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We want to stop it right now.
VAUSE: Most in this country are firmly behind the military offensive to the north and here, these demonstrators are accused of being against Israel .
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: From here I can see Lebanon. It's just to the north there.
VAUSE: Even peace activists, like Ada Aharoni, believe right now there is just no other option.
ADA AHARONI, FOUNDER, FOUR MOTHERS: Now we've been attacked and Israel has to defend itself. There's no other way.
VAUSE: Ada was a founding member of a group known as Four Mothers, a grassroots movement which pressured the government to end the occupation of southern Lebanon, ultimately leading to the pullout of Israeli soldiers in May of 2000.
But as the sirens sound over Haifa, Ada is on the phone when a Katyusha rocket lands next door. Like hundreds of thousands of others, she heads to her safe room, while outside, five more rockets.
It's never been this close before, she says.
AHARONI: They want to destroy us. They want to destroy the existence of Israel and I have no other home. This is my home.
VAUSE: To keep up morale on the home front, Israel's defense minister has made public visits to bomb shelters and the prime minister has repeatedly praised the Israel's resolve.
ERAN SINGER, ISRAEL I ANALYST: The prime minister of Israel , the government of Israel , understand that the only way to achieve a military victory in Lebanon -- on Hezbollah, of course -- is by getting the full support of the people of Israel.
VAUSE: Right now the government here has near total support for a limited military offensive, but anything beyond that is most likely to bring back the bitter and painful memories of Israel's long and ultimately unsuccessful occupation of southern Lebanon. John Vause, CNN, Haifa.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: The highest death toll is among Lebanese civilians. Casualties overall in Lebanon are more than 10 times higher than Israel. Not even hospitals have been spared Israeli air strikes. CNN Senior Medical Correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta reports on the physical and mental impact.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN SR. MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): I've seen firsthand what this war has done.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He lost his leg.
GUPTA: And I know it's the physical injuries that are often most widely discussed.
But it may be this mother with worsening mental illness who is much more reflective of true Lebanon, unhurt, but terribly frightened. Can she be reached?
She is displaced and willing to share her story, but not her name. She tells us she was under the bombardment, and the heavy hit southern suburbs of Beirut, leaving her home destroyed.
Severe headaches, terror that just won't subside, she calls it a medical problem with her mind. Already diagnosed with an anxiety disorder, it has been made even worse by the constant explosions and endless noise, the unknown. She tells us she should be taking medication to control her emotions, but cannot. She is lost them in the raids and has no way to get them, or any other treatment.
(On camera): As far as I can tell, getting care to those with worsening mental health is simply not a priority. I mean, in bombed- out Beirut here, it's hard enough to get basic need to people who have recently been injured. And that's even getting more difficult.
I want to point out that something. We're actually standing in the nursery of a large hospital in Beirut. This is a nursery. I mean, look, you have the bunny rabbit cutouts here on the window. You have the teddy bears on the curtains and you have pictures of babies that were actually in this nursery when an air strike occurred.
(Voice over): So treating illness of the mind falls further and further behind. This is the view from a psyche ward in Sahail (ph) Hospital, no longer available to any of the mentally ill in Beirut.
(On camera): We're standing in a hospital -- this is actually hospital glass, obviously all around. And this is a patient care room right here. You can see what's happened here. The glass actually went through and some of that struck the patient. The patients were injured about 30 patients were injured during this particular air strike, but that's what happens when one of these missiles actually hits the ground.
(Voice over): Add to that reports from the Lebanese information ministry of ambulances on fire in the south, making medicine that much harder to practice.
And many, like this mother, even harder to reach.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How many like her are there in Lebanon at this time? Where are they? They're all over the place.
GUPTA: Perhaps she will be able to get treatment for her invisible illness in Syria or Jordan, just being away from all of this destruction will probably help as well. Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN, Beirut.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: Day to day life in Lebanon has been stressful, at best, for other reasons, too. Our CNN Senior Arab Affairs Correspondent Octavia Nasr is just back from the region. She joins us live now to give us a take of what you observed and what you learned from people, day to day life. It is difficult right now.
OCTAVIA NASR, CNN SR. ARAB AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: It is difficult. I dealt mainly with people fleeing Lebanon, in Cyprus. Basically they came to Cyprus -- and really beyond -- because they all left to either Gulf countries or here in the U.S. or European countries. But basically they talk about the fear.
They all talk about how quickly things escalated. And how quickly they went back to the wartimes, the feeling that they had during wartimes back in the '70s and '80s and early '90s. So the fear is definitely the thing that's on everybody's mind. And people, as a whole, people don't want to go back to the wartimes.
WHITFIELD: And we're not talking about just the fear of missile attacks, but the fear of speaking out. We're not talking about the people speaking and thinking as a monolith, but people are afraid to speak their minds about where they are on this conflict?
NASR: Right. Because this conflict is so sensitive, first of all, very important to know than only of the entire Arab world, only Jordan and Egypt have a peace deal with Israel. The rest of the Arab world is still at war. Lebanon is the enemy of Israel.
So people, even if they had any sympathy for Israel, or for what Israel is doing they cannot open their mouth. They cannot say that. You know where, Fredrick, where they're saying all that? On blogs, because on the blog --
WHITFIELD: They are certainly free there.
NASR: Exactly. No one knows who you are.
WHITFIELD: As a matter of fact, we were able to spot a very interesting conversation between an Israeli and a Lebanese. And basically they were going back and forth, really upset with each other. The Israel telling the Lebanese it's your fault, you started it. Hezbollah attacked Israeli, took our soldiers. And then the Lebanese saying, yeah, fine, good. Then when your siege is over there's not going to be anybody to negotiate with you.
But listen to this line, that's very telling about how some Lebanese feel. This person says, "The most ironic part, ya Israel" -- in other words Israel -- "is that Lebanon is the only country in the region that could have potentially some day been a friend. A warm peace rather than a cold one.
So this is really the sentiment of many people in Lebanon, saying that at the end of day, what they care for is a peaceful Lebanon, with peaceful neighbors, where they can have commerce and tourism and live a good life. Politics is not really on the people's mind. Politics seems to be on the politicians' mind only.
WHITFIELD: Interesting, but I wonder if that's likely to change. The expressed opinion right now might change depending on how long, how much more drawn out this conflict could be?
NASR: Experts are saying just that. As a matter of fact, this morning on LBC, they had a former general of the Lebanese army saying exactly that.
He said, look, the Lebanese army let this happen. They just sat there and watched because they're looking at what Israel is doing. It is surgical strikes on Lebanon. Basically saying look, this is a bone between Israel and Hezbollah, let them fight it off. The Lebanese army doesn't want to get involved.
What this general, on LBC, said this morning, he said, "If this goes longer than it should, then the fears -- then the -- basically the loyalties are going change and people are going start feeling that they need to support Hezbollah in this fight, especially if Israel starts attacking the infrastructure or areas that are not Hezbollah areas.
I'm going give you an example. This one comes in a cartoon. If we can pull that cartoon. It shows a satellite dish. And basically it says Lebanese media, on the satellite dish, and it says the freedom of expression. You see all those rockets with the Star of David basically representing the Israeli strikes on the media.
Basically saying that if this continues then people are going start taking it personal. That this is not an attack by Israel and Hezbollah, but it is an attack on them as well and then things will change.
WHITFIELD: Octavia Nasr, thanks so much.
Next, anti-missile technology. What role does it play in the Middle East crises? And why is the U.S. so interested in the outcome?
Plus what direction is the fight expected to take? I'll speak with a military expert.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: On this 12th day of fighting in the Middle East, here's what we know right now. More deadly attacks today on both sides of the Israeli-Lebanese border. In Lebanon, Israeli warplanes targeted several areas, including the port city of Tyre and Beirut suburbs.
In northern Israel dozens of rockets slammed into the region around Haifa today and evacuees are still moving out of harm's way. The U.S. embassy is urging Americans who have not yet left, to get out.
Hezbollah's military might is just a fraction of Israel's, but Hezbollah's Katyusha rockets have proved to be a formidable opponent putting Israel on the defensive. CNN's Brian Todd reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BRIAN TODD, CNN INTL. CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Hezbollah's answer to Israel's overwhelming advantage in firepower, the Katyusha rocket, proved inaccurate, but sometimes effective.
(On camera): Older models, with ranges of about a dozen miles, can hit villages just across the border, but experts say Hezbollah's also fired rockets able to travel several dozen miles, to the city of Haifa and beyond. And they say Hezbollah may have rockets that can fly up to 100 miles, a potential target? Tel Aviv.
Other advantages, the shorter-range Katyushas aren't in the air for more than a few seconds and they fly low to the ground and --
GEN. MOSHE YAALON, FMR. CHIEF OF STAFF, IDF: You can position them to be ready to be launched very easily. It's a challenge for us to intercept it.
TODD: To hit Katyushas, Israel cannot use its sophisticated Aero-2 or Patriot Defense Systems made to blast long-range missiles out of the sky. The counter for Katyushas, experts say, is in the future.
JOHN PIKE, GLOBALSECURITY.ORG: I think the hope is that eventually the United States and Israel are going to be able to develop battlefield laser systems that will be able to shoot these artillery rockets down.
TODD: Lasers, that in recent tests, have proven very effective in hitting Katyushas and other short-range rockets, even shoulder- fired missiles in just seconds. Israel and the U.S. Army explored a laser program a few years ago, but the Army backed out, because the units were expensive and immobile.
Now, lighter, mobile, more efficient laser systems were being developed. Their only drawback --
PIKE: The big challenge for these lasers is that the lower atmosphere is dirty; it's cloudy, foggy dusty. The laser beam winds up heating up the dust rather than destroying the missile.
TODD: Still experts say, lasers are coming to the battlefield. Other technologies we'll see may look familiar like a ground version of the Gatlin gun, those multi-barrel rotating guns found on ships that can fire thousands of rounds per second. Very effective, experts say, at hitting short-range rockets and mortar shells. Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: Brigadier General David Grange was involved in the counterterrorism operations in the Middle East in the early 1980s. He's a CNN military analyst and joins us now, by phone, from Galina (ph), Illinois.
All right, General. If Israel's objective is to knock out Hezbollah's missiles, particularly before they are launched, is the primary objective to do so via air assault or ground assaults?
BRIG. GEN. DAVID GRANGE, MILITARY ANALYST: You'll see a combination, Fredricka. They're going to use air, they're going to use ground movement with armored forces. They're going to use helicopters. And they are going to infiltrate with special operations. They use different ways to get in there.
You know, when you fire at these kind of rockets from out in the -- let's say out in the country, where they're camouflaged the waddies (ph) and the brushy hillsides, et cetera -- or deep within the city itself, like with Tyre -- they're hard to get to, so you have to use a multitude of means.
WHITFIELD: And they're hard to spot, aren't they? Is it an issue of the Israeli military just simply trying to watch where these launch points are because they're unable to detect where they are, unless they launch. Is that correct?
GRANGE: Yes, you can detect them after they launch, but then you have to get clearance to strike. And if it's in a city they still have to get clearance depending on the location. Sometimes you still have civilians that are casualties for the strikes, but then they have procedures they go through in order to keep down the civilian casualties. They don't enjoy, you know, just striking at will.
For instance, the Hezbollah rocket is just pointed to civilian towns. There is no military target. It is just fire at a village and hopefully you kill as many civilians as you can.
On the other side, they also kill civilians, but they try to kill the military -- or the terrorist forces -- and not the civilians.
WHITFIELD: If Hezbollah has home field advantage, so to speak, in southern Lebanon is it your feeling that Hezbollah can sustain itself in this ongoing battle with Israeli forces since Israel is saying they think this is going to take at least a few more weeks?
They can sustain themselves for awhile, and in fact, forever to -- in a small amount of capability, but there will be isolated, cut off, and systematically searched out and destroyed. And that will take a while, you're right. But you're always going have some insurgents -- well, in this case, terrorists that you cannot find for quite some time and it's an ongoing challenge.
WHITFIELD: Brigadier General David Grange, CNN military analyst. We appreciate your time.
GRANGE: Sure.
WHITFIELD: THE battles in the Middle East are taking a heavy toll on some of the holiest cities in the world; the religious fallout, next.
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WHITFIELD: The conflict in the Middle East isn't just a crisis for innocent families trapped in the chaos, it's destroying history. Much of it the foundation on which many people base their faith. CNN's Delia Gallagher took note on the war that has fallen on Holy Ground.
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DELIA GALLAGHER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): It's almost impossible to bomb a town in the Middle East without hitting a piece of history. Israel, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, full of ruins and shrines, provide a foundation for many of the world's major religions.
Biblos, the Mediterranean Sea town where Israeli ships are now blockading Lebanon, is one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world. Just 22 miles from Beirut, the city dates back to 7,000 B.C. The word Bible comes from "biblos". The papyrus on which the Bible was written is believed to have entered through this port, now under siege.
JON ALTERMAN, DIR. OF MIDDLE EAST PROG., CSIS: The number of religions and religious movements that have started not only in Lebanon and Israel but even in places like Syria that may soon come under conflict. There are people all over the world who look here for their spiritual inspiration, and now they see bomb and bullets flying both ways.
GALLAGHER: The Israeli city of Haifa is the worldwide headquarters of the Bahai faith, founded in Persia in the 19th century; Mount Carmel, high above Haifa, is the site of the Jewish prophet Elijah's cave. Mount Carmel is also home to the Carmelites, a Roman Catholic monastic order of the 12th century that is still there today.
Also hit by bombs is upper Zifad (ph), or Safid (ph), in upper Galilee, the ancient home of Kabala, the mystical form of Judaism begun in the 16th century. The Book of Genesis traces Noah's son and grandson to this area. In the middle of fighting in southern Lebanon is the town of Canna (ph), the place where Jesus was said to have turned water into wine.
ALTERMAN: One of the things we see in other conflicts is that when something does get hit people all over the world feel a personal connection, they see the images, but there's also a spiritual connection. So in the event that something goes horribly wrong and one of the religious sites does get hit, we can imagine the resonance of that will be much, much more than merely gunfire back and forth.
Delia Gallagher, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: And we're following the Middle East crises from all angles. And of course, you can get it online, too. Nicole Lapin is here to keep us up-to-date on how to navigate the web.
NICOLE LAPIN, CNN INTERNET CORRESPONDENT: Well, as you're navigating the story, you can also navigate the web, of course. And a lot of people, as they follow the story, they think how does this affect me? But as we found out online people all over the world are affected.
Americans, Europeans, and folks in the war zone alike, they're all writing their emotional accounts of the crises. And we have some of those posted for you. You can read them online, and people are blogging.
Anderson Cooper has a running blog. And a lot of our correspondents are adding their analysis. And because it's a blog, it's done in a more casual way. Of course, you can chime in, too.
If you're wondering, well, how can I help the situation? Well, we have a list of organizations online that are assisting the region. And also don't forget about CNN Pipeline, because there, you're going to find the very latest video of the fighting.
And oftentimes we bring you news from various sources, so sometimes we'll have Al Arabia (ph) streaming on one of our pipes, or sometimes we'll have Israeli television. So, Fred this, is all just to help people get different perspectives as we continue to follow the story -- and different tools.
WHITFIELD: Yes, and it's great because there are so many different points of view, from so many different angles. And it's hard to squeeze it into a 10-minute break. So, it's nice that people have other options.
LAPIN: It is all one great site. CNN.com/mideast, go there and you'll get everything at your fingertips.
WHITFIELD: All right, Nicole. Thanks so much.
LAPIN: Thanks, Fred.
WHITFIELD: Well, ahead on CNN, details of a happy family reunion following a tense evacuation from Lebanon. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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