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Length: 4:34
PAULA ZAHN: We have
correspondents standing by in Beirut and all along
the Israeli-Lebanese border. In our control room
we’re also bringing in live shots from Havana, Cuba
and Miami; we’ll get to them in just a little bit.
In Lebanon, there was hope that the 48-hour halt in
Israeli airstrikes would be a chance for people to
finally get out of southern Lebanon, those that have
been trapped there for weeks, and for food and
medicine to finally get in to them. Well, it really
hasn't worked out that way.
Michael Ware has that part of the story from Beirut
tonight.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MICHAEL WARE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): There
was hope the guns would be silent, but it still felt
like war.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Let's be very clear. We did not
have a cease-fire. We did not even have a cessation
of hostilities. There was aerial bombardment by
Israel yesterday. There were rockets fired by
Hezbollah. There are ground troops' offensive today.
WARE: Israel's partial suspension of air attacks for
48 hours was meant to allow aid in and evacuees out
of battered villages in southern Lebanon. It didn't
entirely work out that way.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Israel did not concur with our
requests. So, two of three convoys heading south,
two-thirds of our supplies -- and they are not a lot,
really, compared to the needs down there -- did not
proceed from Beirut.
WARE: Though airstrikes were minimal, fierce infantry
assaults continued. Israeli troops probed forward on
two fronts, covered by artillery and tank fire. Amid
the fighting, a few aid convoys still braved the
journey.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We had to literally go off-road
and drive through orchards, because there, you know,
were massive craters where the bombs have fallen in
on the roads. We heard a lot of incoming rounds. But
we certainly didn't hear any outgoing. So, we don't
know what it is -- you know, why they're being
targeted there. But they are definitely being hit.
WARE: Some people could not bear to abandon their
homes near the front lines, preferring to risk death,
rather than face life as refugees. Others took their
moment to flee.
(on camera): Well beyond the front lines here in
Beirut, the sense of a city under siege is growing.
People are stocking up on medicines and petrol, amid
fears Lebanon may soon be cut off from the rest of
the world completely.
WARE (voice-over): This pharmacy is rationing drugs.
Hospitals are running out of some medicines, so
demand here is high. But the pharmacist worries most
about those on dialysis or chemotherapy.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We cannot stay more than two weeks
in that situation. We are facing true problems with
patients that the medication is a must for them. So,
this is my fear.
WARE: With daily flour deliveries meager, these
bakery shelves are like this most of the day. The
government is trying to maintain fuel supplies,
taking steps to ration gas. Some pumps have already
run out.
But frustration is abundant.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): It's all
children. They're killing children. They're killing
old people. We are Christians. We didn't kill anyone.
That Bush, Bush, that -- that Bush man.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ZAHN: So, Michael, you have shown us some of the many
victims that are now caught up in this humanitary --
humanitarian crisis. And we know that U.N. officials
are outraged they haven't been able to get more
supplies into these folks who need it.
Do they have any faith at all that this will change
in the days to come, with more Israeli cooperation?
WARE: Not at all, I'm afraid, Paula.
And, in fact, I suspect that people believe that
things are only going to get worse from here. I mean,
you have heard all the talk about an impending
buildup and greater offensive operations by the
Israeli Defense Force. There's no reason to
disbelieve that. And the people of Beirut, much too
accustomed to war themselves, you can really feel,
among them, that they can sense that something is
changing, that perhaps this war is about to evolve.
We have seen the Israelis conducting reconnaissance
probes, movements in force, raiding parties. We are
now seeing them strike deep within Lebanese soil.
This very much is a deep-strike operation, 90 miles
from their own border. So, perhaps, this is the
prelude to something bigger -- Paula.
ZAHN: Michael Ware, thanks so much.
And once again we need to point out the Israelis say
this war is not against the Lebanese people but that
when Hezbollah chooses to hide in the civilian
population these are the kinds of problems you end up
with.