-Caveat Lector- http://news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/story.jsp?story=285084
The Independent (London) April 15, 2002 Survivors of Jenin Massacre Creep Home to See Destruction By Phil Reeves, outside Jenin refugee camp A giant Israeli military bulldozer, mounted with a machine-gun, was crashing through her neighbour's house, reducing it to dust, close to the edge of the killing fields of Jenin refugee camp. We had arrived in time to see 65-year-old Rashida Raji Ahmed's trauma as she examined what was left of her house after an 11-day invasion by the Israeli army into Jenin, which has left hundreds dead and injured. The Palestinians and international humanitarian organisations were still trying yesterday to establish how many people had been killed; how many were still lyingwounded, and how many were buried beneath the rubble. Rashida wanted to see her home. She had crept back, for the first time in days. She was crying uncontrollably when we arrived at her door. The upper floor of her home had been destroyed by a rocket, and chewed up by machine-gun bullets, like many other homes in the area. The house had then been taken over by the armed forces as a sniper's nest. Her misery was one small part of the misery of Jenin that continued yesterday. Israel again barred Red Cross and United Nations ambulances and aid lorries from entering the camp, as it continued systematically to cover up the atrocities under the nose of Colin Powell, the visiting US Secretary of State. And the stories of the death and destruction inside the camp of 15,000 also continued. Palestinians, ecstatic at the arrival into the no-go area of foreign journalists to whom they could tell their stories, described how camp residents had leapt from window to window to escape the advancing bulldozers; how some, equipped with mobile phones, had survived beneath the rubble; how some people had been cut in half by tanks. The reports were, of course, impossible to verify, and will be denied by the Israeli army, which says that no atrocities have occurred, and that the dead were "terrorists" killed in fighting. But the horror stories keep on coming, rising steadily from the camp, like the fine haze of dust that hung over its ruins yesterday as the bulldozers continued their work. One week ago, nine Palestinian policemen had been bound hand and foot, stripped to their underpants, and executed against a wall, said Mai Ziyad, a 21-year-old student. The relatives, who had been forced to watch, had come to her house deeply distraught. She could remember several names, the Abu Jamda and Abu Hjab families had both lost men. "The wives and children of those who were killed were here. They told us all about it," she said, as we hid in a courtyard with an Israeli Merkava tank passing close by. "They say that only a few hundred people were killed in there, but we think it was far more. The noise was enormous. The soldiers were all around us." According to the Jenin municipality authorities, two-thirds of the homes have either been flattened or rendered uninhabitable. Adnan al-Sabah, their spokesman, said there were about 5,000 people still inside the camp, surrounded by tanks and snipers. "Many are still under the houses. We have seen a few bodies, one burnt inside a house, some buried in rubble, and one lying on the floor with his hands tied. But we still do not know how many were killed. "One woman cradled her dead son in her arms all night. Their children kept on coming up to their father and trying to wake him up, asking for food and milk." His version of the execution story differed slightly: seven had been executed. Residents around the edge of the camp say their water supplies were running out. In al-Razi Hospital, Dr Mahmoud Abu Eslieh said the staff had taken about 15 calls from worried mothers saying that they had been feeding their babies powdered milk mixed with sewage water. Inside his hospital, Ali Abu Sariah, 42, who said he was a teacher, was lying in bed with a bullet in his left leg. He said the Israeli forces used him as a human shield to go house-to-house through the camp, ahead of an Israeli patrol. They ran into another patrol, which shot him in the leg, he said. "They left me on the ground, bleeding." He said that he had spent five days in houses, still injured, before he was carried to the hospital on a ladder. "Half of the camp has been flattened. I am not talking about bullets and rockets. It is totally destroyed and they have driven a highway through it. Alleyways that were three metres wide are now 20 metres wide." We pressed him for more, warning of the importance of not exaggerating but getting it right. He did not waver for a second. "The bodies will tell you if we are lying or not," he said quietly. _______________________________________________________________________ http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/020415/168/1eghl.html PHOTO: Palestinian men pull the dead body of a woman out of a destroyed home in the West Bank town of Nablus, Monday, April 15, 2002. Palestinians allege many civillians were killed in the massive Israeli operation to wipe out militant networks in the West Bank. (AP Photo/Nazeeh Darwazeh) http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/020415/170/1egre.html PHOTO: Ecumenical George Awwad, head of the Saint-Dimitrios Greek Orthodox church, inspects the damage to the church sustained during an Israeli aircraft missile attack in the old town of Nablus, West Bank, April 15, 2002. Many tables, candles, windows and the church's two prayer rooms were destroyed. No injuries were reported. The city of Nablus and the Jenin refugee camp have seen some of the fiercest battles of the military offensive Israel launched on March 29 in the West Bank. (REUTERS/Abed Omar Qusini) http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/020415/170/1egd8.html PHOTO: A man looks at the charred body of a Palestinian in a house in the Jenin refugee camp in the West Bank, April 15, 2002, killed during an assault by Israeli troops. The West Bank cities of Ramallah, Jenin, Nablus and Bethlehem remain under Israeli military curfew, along with several refugee camps and villages. (REUTERS/Mahfouz Abu Turk) http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/020415/161/1eh78.html PHOTO: A Palestinian woman wanders through the rubble of the demolished main square in the Jenin refugee camp in the West Bank, April 15, 2002. Some defiant, some dazed, hundreds of Palestinians emerged from wrecked homes in the Jenin camp, the scene of the fiercest fighting since Israel launched an offensive in West Bank offensive on March 29 after suicide bombers killed dozens of Israelis. (Goran Tomasevic/Reuters) _______________________________________________________________________ http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/world/middle_east/newsid_1930000/1930295.stm BBC World | Middle East Monday, 15 April, 2002, 14:59 GMT 15:59 UK Jenin camp situation 'horrendous' PHOTO: It is not known how many bodies lie in the rubble The International Committee for the Red Cross (ICRC) has described the situation in the refugee camp in the West Bank town of Jenin as "horrendous". Spokeswoman Jessica Barry said there was a lot of destruction and a terrible smell in the camp. The ICRC is overseeing an operation just begun by the Israeli military to remove the bodies of dead Palestinians from the camp. Some bodies have been brought out, but a spokesman for the ICRC said the priority was treatment for the injured, who have been without help for days. Palestinians have alleged that a massacre took place during the battle in the camp, and have said the army had begun burying the dead to conceal evidence. The allegations have brought international condemnation. The operation comes as US Secretary of State Colin Powell continues his peace mission in the region, travelling to Lebanon and Syria in an attempt to calm rising tensions there. 'Enormous' task The ICRC said it was the first time its workers had been allowed into the camp since the fierce fighting earlier this month. "We've had six days of difficult negotiations to get in. All our activities are being co-ordinated with the Israeli Government," said Ms Barry. After a brief withdrawal to assess the situation, a Red Cross spokeswoman in Jenin said the organisation was returning to the camp overnight, and was co-ordinating with the military. Israel Radio said 14 bodies were found but only seven were removed, because areas of the camp remain booby-trapped, the Reuters news agency reported. The ICRC says the scale of the task is "enormous" and that its priority is to treat the injured before removing bodies. Journalists who accompanied medical staff said they saw six bodies, apparently police officers, blackened by an explosion or a fire as well as one civilian. Fadi Jarrar, from the Palestinian Red Crescent, said the dangerous state of the buildings, had prevented his team from recovering at least one body. "We couldn't pull it out because we were afraid the rubble would collapse on us," he said. Israeli tanks and bulldozers have reduced much of the camp to dust. The Israeli High Court on Sunday rejected an attempt to stop the military from taking away the corpses of those killed, but stipulated that the Red Cross must oversee the operation and that the bodies must be released to the Palestinian Authority. International condemnation Israel has strenuously denied the accusations of a massacre at Jenin, which remains a closed military zone. Nobody yet knows exactly what happened during the days of intense fighting inside Jenin or even how many Palestinians were killed. Israeli Defence Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer said that about 70 Palestinians were killed in Jenin, fewer than earlier Israeli army estimates. Palestinians say the figure is far higher. Twenty-three Israelis were killed in the fighting. The allegations of a massacre in Jenin have sparked condemnation from around the world. The United Nations on Monday passed a resolution accusing Israel of "gross violations" of international law. _________________________________________________________________________ http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=3386&Cr=jenin&Cr1= UN News Service 15 April 2002 After granting UN access to Jenin camp, Israel blocks delivery of aid 15 April The Israeli military authorities today granted the United Nations access to the Jenin refugee camp in the West Bank, but then prevented relief workers from delivering urgently needed supplies to the population there. After days of trying, a group of UN personnel from the Office of the Special Coordinator for the Middle East and from the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) finally received permission this morning from Israeli military authorities to enter Jenin Camp, according to a UN spokesman in New York. The team was accompanied by two UNRWA trucks with food and water supplies. "After approximately 30 minutes in the camp, UNRWA was told by the IDF [Israeli Defence Force] officials that it would not be permitted to unload the much-needed supplies," spokesman Fred Eckhard said. "It then became impossible for the team to continue its mission and they left the camp." Israel had apparently offered "no explanation," as the reason for its decision, said Mr. Eckhard in response to questions. "All they did was say that these goods could not be unloaded and as a result of that the convoy turned around and left," he said, adding that while inside the camp, UN officials reportedly witnessed a people in need of food and especially water. Out of a total population of 14,000 refugees in the camp, some 4,000 have left or been forced out of the camp into the neighbouring town and villages, according to UNRWA. The women, children and elderly persons who comprised most of the remaining population have been without any water, food and medical attention for 14 consecutive days. ________________________________________________________________________ Associated Press April 15, 2002 Red Crescent Retrieves Jenin Bodies By JAMIE TARABAY, Associated Press Writer JENIN REFUGEE CAMP, West Bank, Apr. 15 (AP) - Palestinian medics began retrieving bodies from this devastated refugee camp Monday, and Israeli troops exchanged fire with armed Palestinians holed up in Bethlehem's besieged Church of the Nativity compound. Later Monday, two Palestinian policemen -- one seriously wounded and the other reportedly suffering a nervous breakdown -- surrendered to Israeli troops ringing the Bethlehem shrine, witnesses said. The pair became the first of more than 200 armed Palestinians to give themselves up in the 12-day standoff. Israeli troops also entered two Palestinian villages near Bethlehem as part of the 17-day-old military offensive in the West Bank, despite repeated U.S. calls for an end to such incursions, and doctors said two Palestinians were killed in Israeli raids. In Jenin, ambulances drove along the alleys of the shantytown, which has been the scene of the deadliest fighting in the offensive. Israel and the Palestinians have argued over who will retrieve the bodies -- part of their bitter dispute over what happened in the weeklong battle. On Sunday, the Israeli Supreme Court rejected an army plan to bury most of the bodies from the camp in an Israeli cemetery, and insisted the Red Cross monitor the gathering of the corpses. Palestinians have charged that hundreds of people have been killed in the camp, including many civilians, while Israel said about 100 died, most of them gunmen. Palestinian medical officials said troops were making the work of the medic crews more difficult by stopping ambulances repeatedly for searches and ID checks. Fadi Jarrar, a medic for the Palestinian Red Crescent, said his crew discovered one body under a collapsed three-story building. "We couldn't pull it out because we were afraid the rubble would collapse on us," Jarrar said. In Israel, meanwhile, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon called for a Mideast peace conference led by the United States. Sharon told a meeting of business leaders Sunday that he brought up the idea in a meeting with Secretary of State Colin Powell, and "this idea is acceptable to the United States." Sharon proposed that Israel, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Morocco and Palestinian representatives take part. Sharon envisions a conference without Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, whom he has branded a terrorist, his advisers said. "It's really possible" to have a conference without Arafat, said Israeli Justice Minister Meir Shetreet. "Arafat is no longer the head of a state or someone who wants to be the head of state, he's the head of a terror organization." A senior U.S. official said the idea was discussed as part of a way to move forward politically, but more talks were needed. Arafat expressed conditional acceptance of the idea. In a phone call to Fox News, he said, "I am ready for immediate conference, but at the same time immediate withdrawal of Israeli forces." He did not address Sharon's demand that he be excluded from such a conference. However, Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat was critical. "This is an attempt by Sharon to turn the clock many years backward," he said. Erekat said there is an Arab proposal on the table for Israel to withdraw from all of the West Bank, Gaza Strip, east Jerusalem and Golan Heights in exchange for peace, "and what is needed from Sharon is to say yes or no to this initiative." Powell met separately Sunday with Arafat and Sharon, but no progress toward a truce was reported. On Monday, Powell took soundings in Syria and Lebanon on a peace conference and warned leaders of the two nations that guerrilla attacks on Israel could spill over into a wider conflict. Powell said in Damascus that he wanted Syrian President Bashar Assad's assessment on "a way forward to negotiations" to settle the Arab-Israeli conflict. In Bethlehem, Israeli troops exchanged fire with Palestinian gunmen, who have been holed up inside the Church of the Nativity, one of Christianity's holiest shrines and built over the place where tradition holds Jesus was born. Two Israeli soldiers and a Palestinian were slightly hurt. Two Palestinian policemen came out of the church, including one who was seriously wounded after having been shot in the abdomen earlier and one who reportedly suffered a nervous breakdown after being exposed to siren-like noises Israeli troops have been playing over a large loudspeaker near the church, witnesses said. Negotiations over the fate of the gunmen have been bogged down for days, with the Palestinians rejecting Israel's latest offer -- permanent exile or trial in Israel for those among the people in the church who are wanted by Israel. Also Monday, Israeli forces entered two villages east of Bethlehem, Abdia and Deir Salah, expanding the military offensive despite repeated calls by the United States to halt the incursions. A Palestinian motorist driving near Abdia was killed by army fire, Palestinian doctors said. The army confirmed the incursions but had no comment on the death. In Doha, another village near Bethlehem, a Palestinian woman was killed when Israeli troops blew open the door to her home, apparently as part of a hunt for wanted men, Palestinian doctors said. Israel's security Cabinet, meanwhile, approved the creation of "buffer zone" in the West Bank that is to make it harder for Palestinian militants to infiltrate into Israel. Fences and other barriers are to be erected along parts of the buffer zone, including in the Jerusalem area. Cabinet Secretary Gideon Saar emphasized that Israel was not erecting a border unilaterally. "We are not talking about a continuous fence, but about different types of obstacles at different places," said Saar. He said National Security Council head Uzi Dayan proposed blocking roads between the West Bank and Israel and authorizing a few crossing points for goods. The cease-fire line between Israel and the West Bank has never been fortified, as Israeli governments do not recognize it as a border. Lack of a fence means that Palestinians can easily cross into Israel. Thousands enter illegally every day, looking for work, and so do suicide bombers and other attackers. Israel Radio said 14 more bodies were found Monday in the Jenin camp, but only seven were removed because some camp areas remain booby-trapped. Medics in surgical masks, latex gloves and white uniforms placed gallons of drinking water in the streets, and residents took them into their homes. Dr. Tim Keenan, who headed one of the Red Cross teams, said water and electricity to the local hospital had been restored. He said his first priority was to look for wounded people. Before the search began, the medics and ambulances were thoroughly searched by Israel troops, Keenan said. After banning reporters from the camp throughout the battle, the Israeli military took a group of journalists through on Sunday. Soldiers said then they had found 40 bodies so far, most of them gunmen. Reporters accompanying medics entered a house where they saw six bodies blackened by an explosion or fire. Several of the bodies had been covered with blankets. The dead appeared to have been policemen several of them wore black uniforms. In another house, a dead man lay in a doorway, apparently a civilian. He was slumped forward. There was widespread destruction in the camp, where tanks and bulldozers knocked over buildings in their street-to-street fight. In some places, rubble was piled two stories high, with pieces of furniture and personal possessions mixed with broken concrete. The powerful stench of sewage mixed with garbage strewn on the camp's narrow alleyways. Many houses were empty, some with their front doors open. 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