CNN "Wolf" - Transcript: Israel and Hamas Conflict

Interview

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Secretary of State John Kerry has now gone to Egypt, should be arriving very soon, with the goal of trying to broker an immediate cease-fire. Democratic Congressman Adam Ship of California is a member of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence.

Congressman, thanks very much for joining us.

REP. ADAM SCHIFF (D-CA), PERMANENT SELECT COMMITTEE ON INTELLIGENCE: You bet.

BLITZER: So you're privy to a lot of information we're not necessarily privy to. Is that really realistic in the next few days, a workable cease-fire can be in place?

SCHIFF: Well, it's certainly possible and I wish the secretary luck on his trip. It's going to be tough. Wolf, as you know, Egypt, which has traditionally brokered a cease-fire in a situation like this, a fight with Hamas, doesn't have the leverage it used to since it's been fighting the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt and Hamas is part of the Muslim Brotherhood. But other nation, Qatar, Turkey, may have more influence. And if the secretary can get some of those regional allies to pressure Hamas into accepting a cease-fire, that's the only way I can see this ending because as long as those rockets are coming, Israel's going to defend itself. As long as those tunnels are open and people are trying to infiltrate, Israel is going to do what it needs to protect its citizens.

BLITZER: Because the president, once again, repeated today, he said it the other day as well, President Obama, he said he would like to see a cease-fire -- the cease-fire that occurred the last time Israel and Hamas fought at the end of 2012, November 2012, he'd like to see that recreated. That would mean an immediate Israeli withdrawal of all of its forces and thousands of Israeli troops are now inside Gaza dealing with these tunnels, these rocket launchers and other military hardware. That would mean an immediate Israeli withdrawal. Some Israelis have said to me, they want to do away with all these tunnels first, then they might be ready to withdraw. How much of a problem is that going to be if they haven't completed the destruction of these tunnels that go from Gaza into Israel?

SCHIFF: Well, it's certainly going to add to the challenge of bringing about a cease-fire. But as you saw, Wolf, Israel was willing to accept a cease-fire earlier. I think they'd still like to have a cease-fire. It may not be possible, frankly, to stay until all the tunnels are destroyed because it takes time to even find the tunnels and many of them have multiple entrances and exits. And, of course, the casualties on the Israeli side are also mounting.

So I think a cease-fire is possible. And I think Israel would like a cease-fire. Whether the timing is right yet for a cease-fire to be accomplished, I don't know. But I certainly think it was worthwhile for the president to dispatch our secretary of state to see if he can help bring that about. BLITZER: I don't know if you know anything about this, but our colleague - our CNN contributor, Josh Rogin of "The Daily Beast," is reporting that U.N. officials in Gaza, UNRWA officials I presume, the United Nations Relief Work Agency that deals with Palestinian refugees, they found some rockets inside a U.N. school. Instead of destroying them, they actually handed them over to a police force established by Hamas. Have you heard anything along those lines?

SCHIFF: I haven't heard about the handing over of these rockets back to Hamas, but I have certainly seen many reports that Hamas has hidden these rockets in U.N. facilities, in schools, near hospitals, using basically humid shields. And, you know, some people say, well, Gaza is small, and they're going to be civilians around wherever Hamas operates. That may be true, but Hamas has fully aggravated the situation by using these sites to hide its munitions, to hide some of its militants, and that is, in part, responsible for this heavy civilian casualty count.

BLITZER: Do you see any possibility that the Palestinian Authority leadership of President Mahmoud Abbas, who's basically secured the West Bank, he's cooperated militarily with Israel, he's now involved in trying to get a cease-fire, that the P.A., the Palestinian Authority, could effectively take charge not only of the West Bank of Gaza, and push Hamas aside? Is that at all realistic, congressman?

SCHIFF: I don't think it's probably realistic during this fight unless the fight became very, very prolonged. It certainly is possible when this fight is other. I think the people in Gaza are very unhappy with Hamas and Hamas has very few friends left in the world. So the conditions in Gaza are deteriorating. I think many residents of Gaza hold Hamas responsible for that, as they should. So I think that Abbas' position should be improved.

But sometime there's this perverse effect, as you know, in the region, Wolf, where Hamas gains in stature just by fighting with Israel. So, in the near term, I don't see that happening. But, hopefully, in the midterm, we can see a unified government under Fatah leadership in both territories and a resumption of some peace negotiations.

BLITZER: And hopefully, in the end, what they call a two-state solution, Israel and Palestine leaving peacefully side by side.

SCHIFF: Exactly.

BLITZER: It seems like a dream right now, but maybe they can get back to that work down the road.

Hey, congressman, thanks very much for joining us.

SCHIFF: It's the only answer. Thanks, Wolf.

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