Israeli Spokesman on Possible Cease-Fire
BLITZER: Welcome back. We're coming to you live from Jerusalem where we're following the intense efforts to try to broker a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas. Let's talk about that and more with Mark Regev, he's the spokesman for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Thanks very much for joining us. So once again, are you close to a cease-fire in Gaza?</s>MARK REGEV, SPOKESMAN FOR ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER: We don't know, because Hamas apparently says no. We saw the Hamas leader today talk publicly and he put so many conditions on a cease-fire, he makes it impossible. Israel has shown a willingness. We have said so in the past. We've been ready for an immediate cease-fire, and Hamas makes that impossible. And in doing so, Hamas condemns both the Israelis and the Palestinians, the people of Gaza to continued bloodshed. And Hamas is solely responsible for the continuation of this conflict.</s>BLITZER: If there's a cease-fire, would you as a longer term process, would you allow international monitors to go into Gaza as part of an effort to demilitarize the Gaza Strip.</s>REGEV: It should be demilitarized. There's no reason for any rockets or any terrorism whatsoever in the Gaza Strip. You know, we pulled out of Gaza. We pulled out. We took down all the settlements. We pulled back the international frontier, and we hoped at the time that we would be able to live in peace with Gaza, that there would be corporation; there would be commerce, tourism, trade, people going back and forth. Hamas took over the Gaza strip. Instead of having cooperation, we've had conflict. If the situation was to change, if there wasn't balance from Gaza, then the restrictions we placed on many of them to protect ourselves, they wouldn't be necessary.</s>BLITZER: Would you pull out all Israeli forces in Gaza, your Israeli troops in Gaza right now? Would you pull out all of those forces and allow international monitors to go in to police, if you will, some sort of internationally guaranteed cease-fire?</s>REGEV: Part of our ethos is that we defend ourselves. We've never asked the United States or any other country to defend us. Now we cannot pull out our troops as long as those rockets keep firing down on our cities, as long as Hamas keeps trying to kill our people.</s>BLITZER: But we're talking about monitors not necessarily protecting Israel to observe to make sure that the Gaza Strip would be demilitarized.</s>REGEV: Well, if Gaza is demilitarized, it would be a major achievement. And you should know, Wolf, there's a Palestinian signed commitment that that should be the case. And the fact that there are so many rockets in Gaza is a violation of signed agreements in the framework of the peace process.</s>BLITZER: What do you know about the shelling of this school, this shelter in Gaza, Beit Hanoun in Gaza, 16 Palestinians killed, civilians, maybe 200 injured. What is the Israeli government saying about this?</s>REGEV: Well, our military is still looking into it. It's obviously a tragedy, because some civilians seem to have been killed. And it's a very sad situation. And you can't see those pictures and not be moved. We don't know exactly yet what happened. The U.N. has reported, the U.N. that there was Palestinian rocket fire in that area. So it could have been Palestinian ordinance. It could have been Palestinian ordinance. It could have also been -- we don't know yet -- Israeli fire, because there were fire fights in that area. We've had continuous examples of Palestinian terrorists, Hamas, using U.N. facilities, U.N. schools as part of their military machine. The secretary-general of the United Nations who was here two days ago has asked for an official inquiry. Why is it that U.N. facilities have been used to store rockets by Hamas? So when Hamas does this, when Hamas abuses a U.N. facility, when Hamas turns a U.N. facility into a war zone, ultimately, they're responsible for any casualties that happen there.</s>BLITZER: A U.N. spokesman says on two occasions they tried to get Israel, the IDF, to agree to cede (ph) the coordinates so that Palestinians in that shelter could have an exodus, if you will, could leave in peace, but they got no response from Israel.</s>REGEV: We've got very good relations with the U.N. bodies. We want to support their humanitarian work. And we today agree that between 10 a.m. local time and 2 p.m. local time, there would be time for a U.N. corridor to let people leave. Unfortunately, our understanding is the terrorists didn't let the people leave.</s>BLITZER: As far as the start-up again of U.S. flights, U.S. carriers flying to Ben Gurion Airport, as soon as that announcement was made, you just heard Martin Savidge report he was there at Ben Gurion Airport. There were four or five rocket attacks from Gaza that went nearby when central Israel, the Tel Aviv area, not far away from the airport. What is the reinsurance that you have that it will be safe for international and U.S. carriers to fly in and out of Ben Gurion Airport?</s>REGEV: Not one of those rockets landed in the airport. Not one of them landed, not on the terminal and not the runway, because that airport is secure. That airport is one of the most safely guarded facilities in my country and rightly so. That airport is shielded by a multilayer defense system of missile defense, and incoming rockets cannot penetrate that the airport.</s>BLITZER: You know that when experts hear that there are sort of rockets and interceptions in the sky near an airport, they get nervous.</s>REGEV: They're allowed to get nervous, but then they've got to be rational. I think an Israeli guest before me said that some airports around the world, including in America, who are in earthquake zones, there's a higher probability that you'll have a problem there than you'll have at Ben Gurion Airport. I'd remind you that in Israel we do some things well and we do some things very well. And aviation security in this country we do very well.</s>BLITZER: How did you convince the FAA in Washington to go ahead and lift that ban after 36 hours?</s>REGEV: We were totally transparent. We got our airport security professionals to speak directly to their U.S. counterparts. And they had a professional dialogue with security expert, aviation expert, with the aviation effort, and we showed them that Ben Gurion Airport is safe and open for business.</s>BLITZER: Yesterday, when I spoke to the spokesman for Hamas, Osama Hamdan, he acknowledged that the Hamas rockets are being aimed at Ben Gurion Airport, in part, he says, because there are Israeli air force military activities going on there, as well.</s>REGEV: Well, first of all, it's not a military airport. And frankly, Hamas is being disingenuous. Hamas has a track record of targeting innocent civilians. Just blows us here in Jerusalem. You remember a time when Hamas was exploding suicide bombers on buses, killing scores of different people. Hamas shoots rockets indiscriminately into Israeli cities, trying to kill our people. Hamas kidnaps youngsters and murders them brutally. I mean, the Hamas spokesman doesn't say nice things on CNN, but the truth is, they are a brutal, extreme, violent terrorist organization committed to a crazy religious creed, a warped version of Islam. They are the enemies of everyone who believes in peace and reconciliation, tolerance and democracy.</s>BLITZER: Earlier today, I spoke with a Palestinian parliamentarian, Dr. Mustafa Barghouti, a man you probably know.</s>REGEV: I do.</s>BLITZER: He said right now, Hamas and the Palestinian Authority of President Mahmoud Hamas were on the same page when it comes to a cease-fire with Israel, that Hamas is ready for an five-day cease- fire, but Israel is rejecting that.</s>REGEV: That's be clear here. There's an Egyptian proposal that's been on the table for a week now, an Egyptian proposal that calls for an immediate unconditional cease-fire to end the violence. We've accepted that proposal. And that proposal is supported by the United Nations and the Arab League and the Palestinian government of President Mahmoud Abbas. Hamas opposes that cease-fire. And Hamas is directly responsible therefore for the continued bloodshed, because they are the only party that refuses a cease-fire today.</s>BLITZER: Is Secretary John Kerry coming back here in Israel or is he done with his current leg of shuttle diplomacy as far as you know?</s>REGEV: I don't know. If he comes back, he'll be a welcome visitor, because the U.S. secretary of state is always a welcome visitor in Israel. We are one of the few countries on the planet that is unabashedly pro-American.</s>BLITZER: Mark Regev, the spokesman for the prime minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu. Thanks very much for joining us.</s>REGEV: My pleasure.</s>BLITZER: We've got a lot more news coming up, including new images, grim new discoveries. We're going to go live to Ukraine for the latest on what's going on there. Serious tensions involving the U.S. and Russia at the same time. Much more coming up. We're live here in Jerusalem. Our SITUATION ROOM special report continues.