Click photo to play
Length: 5:52
WOLF BLITZER: Our
correspondent Michael Ware is on the scene for us.
Michael, the last couple of nights, huge explosions
rocking Beirut. So far tonight, quiet, I take it?
MICHAEL WARE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Wolf.
Although there is a jet fighter above me in the skies
as I speak, it has been quiet this evening. So far
the last couple of nights if there is a bombardment,
we see it commence any time from about now until the
first rays of daylight. Last night, if you recall,
there was an extremely intense bombardment here on
the southern outskirts of Beirut.
As many as 30 bombs dropped within the area of half a
square mile, targeting a small district near the
airport and with port access. When I went down there
this afternoon I saw the damage that was wrought by
the attack, an entire fishing fleet wiped out. I
suspect this is part of the Israeli Defense Forces
attempts to put a strangle hold, a grip, on Lebanon,
to prevent any kind of ratlines or secret supply
routes -- Wolf.
BLITZER: Do you get an impression that people are now
fleeing parts of Beirut that had been relatively
stable, Christian quarters, for example, Christian
areas, Sunni areas of Beirut as opposed to the
largely Shia southern part of the city?
WARE: Well, it's always hard to tell, but there was
no obvious signs today that certainly I saw of a mass
exodus of any kind. I think by and large the weight
of the population that sought to get out of the city
and return to family villages or head up into the
relatively safe mountain areas controlled by the
Druze forces and others have already left, so no, I
didn't see a scurrying from the city today -- Wolf.
BLITZER: All right, Michael, we're going to come back
to you, Michael Ware on the scene for us in Beirut.
BLITZER: Welcome back. We're following all the latest
developments in the Middle East crisis tonight. Let's
go right back to Beirut right now, Michael Ware is on
the scene for us once again, tonight.
As you look out over this city, the Israelis say
they've tried to pinpoint Hezbollah targets
specifically in south Beirut, they've tried to go
after the most dangerous spots, they say, and if
there are some mistakes, there are mistakes. But by
and large, they say they're sticking to Hezbollah.
Is that what you're seeing on the ground as you go
out and inspect these craters and these other targets
of the Israelis?
WARE: Yeah, well, obviously, Wolf, it's very hard to
know exactly what's what. I mean, that's the nature
of any war, and particularly here, I mean, Hezbollah
is very disciplined. Even its foot soldiers are all
on message, so -- and supporters, too. People don't
give much away, so you go to a bombing scene and you
actually are prevented from seeing some things and
yet you're allowed to see others. So nothing becomes
readily apparent.
Although last night, this heavy concentration of
bombings in this southern district, it wasn't one of
the areas identified by the Israelis that day where
they warned people to get out. It was an area to the
side, but it was heavily dominated by Shia people,
largely impoverished.
I spoke to some locals, the few who remain. They said
we support Hezbollah. We are not fighters, but our
heart is with them. So goodness knows what's in there
and what's not. It all depends on the nature and the
quality of Israeli intelligence -- Wolf.
BLITZER: They're saying, the Israelis also, that are
trying to find Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of
Hezbollah, and kill him, also one of his deputies,
Imad Mugniyah, they would like to find him as well,
kill him as well. We see Hassan Nasrallah make these
video appearances on Lebanese television, various
channels. Does he ever show up on the streets? Does
he ever go out or is he simply on the run all the
time, knowing he's enemy number one as far as Israel
is concerned?
WARE: Yeah, look, Wolf, let me assure you, there's no
scenes here in Beirut or elsewhere like, for example,
we saw in Iraq as Baghdad was falling and Saddam
popped up and made that one last appearance for the
cameras on the street. There's nothing like that.
Sayid Hassan Nasrallah means business. He's in the
business of guerrilla warfare. He's not going to let
himself make a mistake like that. He'll be moving
constantly. He'll be with a small, tight band of
bodyguards. Very few people will have any knowledge
of where he is or what he's doing, and to be honest
he has the capacity, I suspect, to slip back and
forth across the border. So he'll be staying very
much under the radar, Wolf.
BLITZER: As a lot of our viewers will remember when
you were "Time Magazine's" Baghdad bureau chief, you
often times managed to get close to some of the Iraqi
insurgents and do some excellent reporting on where
they were, what they were doing, what their
motivations were, where they were getting their
money, where they were getting their weapons. Is
there any way that people can do that, reporters can
do that with Hezbollah?
WARE: Well, Hezbollah has surrounded themselves with
a public relations ring of steel. As I was saying,
from the upper echelons to the rank and file in the
street, they've closed the doors, slammed them shut.
Nonetheless, there's always a way. You can always
find some people who are much more approachable than
others, so different journalists are attempting to
make different inroads. So far, however, as you can
tell, no one's yet cracked the nut, so to speak.
Wolf.
BLITZER: All right Michael, thanks very much. Michael
Ware on the scene for us in Beirut.