Escalating Tensions in Middle East Lead to Escalating Rhetoric
GENE RANDALL, CNN ANCHOR: Escalating tensions in the Middle East have prompted President Clinton to cancel all of his travel plans for today to stay in Washington and monitor the crisis. A short time ago, Israel sent warnings of possible retaliation to Syria and Lebanon, after Hezbollah guerrillas ambushed and captured three Israeli soldiers who were on patrol along the Israel-Lebanon border. CNN's Jerrold Kessel is in Jerusalem with the latest -- Jerrold.</s>JERROLD KESSEL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Gene, escalating tensions, escalating rhetoric, too. Yasser Arafat, the Palestinian authority president, returning from a trip to Spain, where he had been attending an international gathering, back in his headquarters in Gaza just moments ago landing and accusing Israel of escalating what he called tensions -- escalating violence against the Palestinian people, against the whole Arab people, against the Muslim world. That statement from Yasser Arafat, as the Israelis for their part stoke up tensions by providing a warning to the Lebanese and the Syrian governments in the wake of the kidnapping of three of their soldiers along the northern border on the between Israel, Lebanon and Syria. Apparently, Hezbollah guerrillas from inside Lebanon kidnapping those soldiers. A build up of Israeli troops in that area, as Israel struggles first of all on a military level to try to locate the whereabouts of the kidnapped soldiers but sending warnings to Lebanon and Syria that it holds them responsible for the welfare of those soldiers and for reigning in Hezbollah. Israel at the same time, just as Arafat, as Yasser Arafat has done in his statement now, appealing to the world community, Israel saying the world community had underwritten the international agreement by which Israel withdrew its forces from south Lebanon after its long occupation in May and saying the international community was honor bound to try to intervene and prevent any violations of that accord. Yasser Arafat saying now that the international community should intervene to try to stop what he calls this escalating violence by Israel against the Palestinian community and against the Arab world. So both sides stepping up their rhetoric, just as the violence and tension get stepped up on a number of fronts now.</s>RANDALL: Thanks, Jerrold. Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak is planning a news conference at his country's defense ministry today at 2 p.m. Eastern time. We're planning to bring it to you live.