Nightline: Daily E-mail (8/10)
W A S H I N G T O N, Aug. 10 -- In the last 24 hours, over ten months of Middle East violence have taken an even more troubling turn. The damage done by yesterday's Palestinian suicide bomber is still being measured. So far, at least 15 people have died and more than 90 were injured in the lunch-hour blast at a crowded Jerusalem pizza restaurant.
Israeli retaliation overnight has been swift. In its most sweeping assault on Yassir Arafat's Palestinian Authority to date, Israeli F-16 fighters launched missiles at a Palestinian police station in the West Bank. Israeli tanks entered Palestinian controlled areas in the Gaza Strip. Israeli soldiers and police took over Palestinian police buildings in and around East Jerusalem. And in a move of significant symbolism, the Israeli police have taken over the unofficial Palestinian Foreign Ministry headquarters in East Jerusalem, known as Orient House. An Israeli flag has been raised where the Palestinian flag once flew.
For the last ten months there have been several moments where the world wondered if the only course for the Israelis and Palestinians would be all-out war. So far, the two sides have been able to resist it, or so they say. A survey published in an Israeli newspaper today said 62 percent of Israelis oppose a large-scale military attack against the Palestinian authority, a sign that some restraint is favored. Today Yassir Arafat condemned yesterday's attack and called on Israel to join him in a declaring a cease fire. But the government of Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon quickly rejected Arafat's pronouncement as a "P.R. ploy after the event."
But is it war when F-16 fighters are launching missiles? When tanks are entering towns? Is it war when the enemy headquarters have been occupied? Is it a war when a continuing stream of suicide bombers bring widespread terror to the civilian population? There are certainly many who would say this isn't careening toward war; this is war.
We will have several reports tonight to bring you the latest information and try to make sense of it all. Nightline's John Donvan here in Washington will wrap up the news of the past 24 hours. ABC News senior correspondent James Wooten will be in Jerusalem with the latest there. ABC News corespondent Claire Shipman interviewed President Bush today on his Crawford, Texas ranch and got his reaction to the latest news out of the Middle East and where he believes the United States can play a role. And finally, ABC News correspondent Hilary Brown has a remarkable interview. She spoke with the Palestinian that the Israeli government says is number one on its most wanted list. In fact, Israeli foreign minister, Shimon Peres, today said the suicide bomber responsible for yesterday's attack was guided by one of the terrorists included on this list. And with the Israeli policy of targeting and assassinating known terrorists, this is truly a marked man. Hilary Brown will show you what a known terrorist looks like and sounds like.
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