Syria's President Issues Warning on Security Council Resolution; Missiles Fall into Heart of Haifa
CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back. And here is what's happening right now in the news. To the Middle East now. Hezbollah rockets rain down on the Israeli port city of Haifa late today. And at least three civilians were killed. Israel says it destroyed the launcher that fired the rockets. And Syria's president issues a warning on a draft U.N. Security Council resolution. Bashar al-Assad says that the U.S./French brokered resolution could lead to more instability in the region if it passes without the approval of all political forces in Lebanon. The U.S. makes it clear it won't invade Cuba. Today Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice called it far-fetched to think the U.S. would invade Cuba just because Fidel Castro is sick. And Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum takes his re-election campaign on the road. Today the third-ranking Senate Republican announced a cross-state bus tour. The latest poll shows Democratic challenger state treasurer Bob Casey with a slight lead in the race. From the CNN headquarter in Atlanta, I'm Carol Lin and you're watching special coverage of the unfolding crisis in the Middle East.</s>JOHN VAUSE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, I'm John Vause in Jerusalem where the Israeli government is dealing with the fallout from the deadliest Hezbollah attack so far.</s>LIN: John, it's 7:30 on the U.S. East Coast, 2:30 a.m. in Lebanon and this is this hour's "War Bulletin," where we catch everybody up. Israel suffers through its deadliest day of the conflict so far, including a dozen reservists killed in Kfar Giladi. And more Hezbollah targets Haifa. At least three people were killed when rockets flattened the building. And Syria joins Lebanon in questioning the draft U.N. cease-fire plan. Both worry it could widen the conflict. CNN's John Vause on the screen in Jerusalem. John?</s>VAUSE: Carol, earlier this evening the Israeli port city of Haifa was hit by a barrage of rockets, killing at least three civilians, wounding more than 100 others. We'll have more on the attack in Haifa in just a moment. All out today, Israel says more than 180 rockets have fallen in the northern part of this country. And one single rocket was more deadly than any others. Twelve reservist soldiers, civilians called up for national service were killed. They were called for duty. Many were returning from weekend leave, standing outside a makeshift base in the small farming community of Kfar Giladi. It was a sustained attack. Witnesses say it lasted for 15 minutes, possibly more. Also today Israel says it captured one Hezbollah militant responsible for the kidnapping of two Israeli soldiers on July 12th, the incident, which sparked this conflict. Israeli officials say he confessed and is now providing valuable information about the whereabouts and condition of the two missing soldiers. Israeli air strikes continue to pound southern Lebanon, especially around the port city of Tyre, killing at least 14 civilians. And also today, the Lebanese capital of Beirut came under daylight attack. Lebanese sources say two air strikes hit not far from Hezbollah headquarters in the southern part of the city. Now, back to Haifa, the city which has been almost under constant attack since this conflict began. But today, the missiles fell in the heart of the city. CNN's Paula Hancocks has more.</s>PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Just before 8:00 Sunday evening, six Hezbollah rockets shattered the uneasy calm in Haifa in one of the heaviest barrages on the city so far. Part of this building in an Arab neighborhood collapsed. One woman was killed instantly. Others had to be pulled from the rubble. This paramedic tried to perform CPR on one badly-injured man. He estimates at least 50 people were taken to hospitals. Anxious residents try to get to the scene of the most deadly rocket attack. Police stop them, trying to disperse the crowd by shouting more rockets could be on the way. And despite the fact that an Arab rocket hit an Arab neighborhood, the anger on the streets was not directed at Hezbollah. This former Arab member of parliament says they're victims of Israel serving American policies in the region. (on camera): This particular rocket attack has taken many residents of Haifa by surprise. There hasn't been a rocket attack that injured anybody in at least a week here in Haifa. And many had been lulled into a false sense of security. (voice-over): This resident directs his fury at the Israeli government saying there are no bomb shelters in the Arab areas, we need bomb shelters. These attacks in Haifa and a particularly bloody day for Israel. The Israeli government, though, still insists it is winning this war.</s>MARK REGEV, FOREIGN MINISTRY SPOKESMAN: We have no doubt that if we look at number of launches we've taken out, if we have hit their infrastructure, we've hit their command and control, we are sure, we are confident that we are winning this.</s>HANCOCKS: But the view from Jerusalem seems to be shared by few of those who find themselves directly in the line of rocket fire. Paula Hancocks, CNN, Haifa, Israel.</s>VAUSE: And the Israelis say like so many other Katyusha rockets and other missiles which have fallen on towns in the northern part of this country, the rockets which hit Haifa tonight were made in Syria. Carol, back to you at the CNN Center.</s>LIN: John, Paula Hancocks raises an interesting point about whether the Israeli defense forces, in fact, are gaining ground. That's why we asked our CNN military analyst to be with us tonight, brigadier general David Grange here to talk with us about this. David, you heard Mark Regev, the spokesperson for the IDF insisting that they have badly damaged Hezbollah's command and control. What evidence, if any, exists to support that?</s>BRIG. GEN. DAVID GRANGE, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: I think that's correct, that they have damaged the command in control but they have alternate means of commanding and controlling their forces. What's important here is not how many launchers have been destroyed, how many rockets one side can fire each day, how many casualties, the number, so many killed, so many wounded. How you win something like this is that they have to break the will of the Hezbollah, if you're an Israeli, and if you're on Hezbollah's side, you have to induce so much terror that the Israeli government backs off from the pursuit north in a buffer zone or in a southern part, I should say, of Lebanon. It's not about numbers. It's about will.</s>LIN: And the will is there. I mean, nearly 200 rockets fired into northern Israel. We saw the attack on Haifa. Look at this, David, they fired at sundown. All right? It's as if Hezbollah was sitting there saying, yes, we know you can follow our phosphorous trace in the sky and find us, but we don't care because we've got another rocket launcher in the the neighborhood next door. Hezbollah appears to be getting more bold and every day that goes by that Israel doesn't make more in roles reaching its goals, Hezbollah become a rock star.</s>GRANGE: They become a rock star in this part of the world. There's no doubt about it. And the Israeli government, I believe, either needs to make a decision to go full out up to the Litani River and isolate the city of Tyre and other places, going to be very difficult to clear the entire city, because they're piecemealing the pieces. I'm not saying they're not working hard. They're working very hard but this is a very tough mission, a tall order. They have to put more resources into it if they want to accomplish their goal of destroying the capabilities of the Hezbollah. I think it would be very hard to break the will.</s>LIN: What's it going to take? What are they not doing? How much manpower on the front lines, how much material on the ground?</s>GRANGE: Well first of all, there's still things coming in from Syria. Even though they interdict supplies from Syria coming into the Hezbollah, a lot still gets through. So on that part of the border, I think increase emphasis needs to be put there.</s>LIN: General -- go ahead, please.</s>GRANGE: No, well I'm just say that the other is you need to have enough troops in order to -- right now they have -- they're hitting designated pockets of resistance. But it doesn't mean that Hezbollah aren't in other places. They haven't been bypassed. They have these things hidden all over the place. They can sustain themselves for a very long period of time.</s>LIN: So what is it going take then? What do you think is going to happen? You've got Syria supplying weapons, Iran supplying weapons. Syria now threatening that it will attack Israel and it is mobilizing its army if any Israeli missiles happen to land on Syrian territory, which could happen. It's right there.</s>GRANGE: Well actually, if something did start with Syria, it would eliminate part of the problem because Syria's definitely behind this. It's sort of like the Vietnam-Laos thing, where you have a sanctuary of support coming out of Laos into Vietnam, but you can't strike there. In actuality, it may make it a little bit easier to win if they were involved. But though it would put the whole region into chaos, but militarily speaking it would make it easier to win if they, in fact, had to take out -- which they would -- part of the Syrian air force and army.</s>LIN: Well, not an option right now. But David Grange, things changing rapidly on the ground. Appreciate the time.</s>GRANGE: Thank you.</s>LIN: Coming up, children in combat. The terrifying new trend of children becoming targets of war. And life after battle. Iraq war veterans running for hope and possibility in New York City. Stay right there.