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{{Articleissues
| citecheck = September 2007
| disputed = August 2007
| POV = August 2007
| weasel = September 2007}}

{{Infobox Military Conflict
{{Infobox Military Conflict
|conflict=Battle of Jenin
|conflict=Battle of Jenin
|partof=the [[al-Aqsa Intifada]], [[Operation Defensive Shield]]
|partof=[[Operation Defensive Shield]]
|image=[[Image:IDF-D9L001.jpg|300px|]]
|date=April 2002
|caption=A [[Caterpillar D9]]L [[armored bulldozer]] used by the IDF during the battle.
|place=[[Jenin]], [[West Bank]]
|place=[[Jenin]], [[West Bank]]
|result=Israeli victory
|result=Israeli victory
|combatant1={{flagcountry|Israel}}
|casus=[[Passover massacre]] and earlier bombings launched from Jenin
|combatant2={{flagicon|Palestine}} [[Fatah]] ([[Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades]], [[Tanzim]])<br>[[Image:Hamas flag2.png|22px]] [[Hamas]]<br>[[Palestinian Islamic Jihad|Islamic Jihad]]
|combatant1={{flagcountry|Israel}} [[Israel Defense Forces|IDF]]
|commander1=[[Yehuda Yedidia]]<br>[[Eyal Shlein]]<br>Ofek Buchris
|combatant2=[[Fatah]] ([[Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades]], [[Tanzim]])<br />[[Image:Hamas flag2.png|22px]] [[Hamas]]<br>[[Palestinian Islamic Jihad|Islamic Jihad]]
|commander2=[[Hazem Qabha]]<br>[[Zakaria Zubeidi]]<br>[[Mahmoud Tawallbe]]{{KIA}}
|commander1=[[Yedidia Yehuda]]<ref name=Time>[http://www.time.com/time/2002/jenin/story.html 'The Battle of Jenin' by Matt Rees, May 13, 2002] (''[[TIME]]''), Also [http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1002406-1,00.html 'Untangling Jenin's Tale']</ref>
|strength1=1 reserve infantry brigade<br>2 regular infantry battalions<br>Commando teams<ref name="harel257-258" />
|commander2=[[Mahmoud Tawallbe]]{{KIA}}
|strength2=Several hundreds<ref name="harel257-258" />
|strength1=1,000
|casualties1=23 dead<br>52 wounded<ref name="harel257-258" />
|strength2=200-250
|casualties2=53 dead (5 civilians according to [[Israel Defense Forces|IDF]]; at least 27 militants and 22 civilians according to [[Human Rights Watch|HRW]]<ref name=Time>{{Cite news
|casualties1=23 soldiers killed
| last = Rees
|casualties2=52 killed (38 armed men, 14 civilians according to [[Israel Defense Forces|IDF]]; at least 27 militants and 22 civilians according to [[Human Rights Watch|HRW]]), and 37 captured.
| first = Matt
| title = Inside the Battle of Jenin
| work = Time Magazine
| accessdate = 2008-09-19
| url = http://www.time.com/time/2002/jenin/story.html
}}</ref>)<br>Hundreds wounded<br>200 captured<ref name="harel257-258">Harel and Isacharoff (2004), pp. 257-258</ref>
|casualties3=Dozens of houses<ref name="harel257-258" />
}}
}}
{{Campaignbox Al aqsa}}
{{Campaignbox Second Intifada}}


The '''Battle of Jenin''' ({{lang-ar|مجزرة جنين}}, ''lit.'' Massacre of Jenin; {{lang-he|הקרב בג'נין}}) took place between the 3rd and 11th of April 2002 in [[Jenin]]'s [[Palestinians|Palestinian]] [[refugee camp]] as part of [[Operation Defensive Shield]] during the [[Second Intifada]].
The '''Battle of Jenin''' took place from [[April 3]] to [[April 11]], [[2002]] in the [[refugee camp]] of [[Jenin]], in the [[West Bank]]. It was fought between the [[Israel Defense Forces]] (IDF) and [[Palestinian]] forces as part of [[Operation Defensive Shield]], during the [[Second Intifada]].


As part of the operation, which involved invasions of cities and towns all over the West Bank, Israel targeted Jenin's refugee camp, after it determined that the city had "served as a launch site for numerous terrorist attacks against both Israeli civilians and Israeli towns and villages in the area",<ref name="mfa">{{Cite web
Following numerous [[List of massacres committed during the Second Intifada|attacks]] by [[Palestinian political violence|Palestinian suicide bombers]] on [[Israel]]i civilians, culminating with a [[Passover massacre|suicide bombing at Park Hotel]] in [[Netanya]] during the [[Passover Seder]] (March 27, 2002), in which 30 Israelis were killed and 140 were injured;<ref>[http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/MFAArchive/2000_2009/2002/3/Passover%20suicide%20bombing%20at%20Park%20Hotel%20in%20Netanya Passover Massacre: Passover suicide bombing at Park Hotel in Netanya March 27, 2002]</ref> Israel had deployed the [[Israel Defence Forces]] (IDF) to conduct what it considered a large-scale [[counter-terrorist]] offensive called [[Operation Defensive Shield]].<ref name="PMnDM">[http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/Government/Speeches%20by%20Israeli%20leaders/2002/Statements%20by%20PM%20Sharon%20and%20DM%20Ben-Eliezer%20at%20pres Statements by Israeli PM Sharon and DM Ben-Eliezer 29 Mar 2002]</ref>
| title = Jenin's Terrorist Infrastructure
| work = Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs
| accessdate = 2008-09-22
| date = 2002-04-04
| url = http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/MFAArchive/2000_2009/2002/4/Jenin-s%20Terrorist%20Infrastructure%20-%204-Apr-2002
}}</ref> including the dispatch of 28 suicide bombers since the start of the Second Intifada.<ref name="BBCmartyrs">{{Cite news
| last = Lee
| first = Ken
| title = Jenin rises from the dirt
| work = BBC
| accessdate = 2008-09-21
| date = 2003-06-24
| url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3015814.stm
}}</ref>


The IDF denied entry to journalists and human rights organizations, leading to a rapid cycle of rumors that a massacre had occurred. Jenin remained sealed for days after the invasion. Stories of civilians being buried alive in their homes as they were demolished, and of smoldering buildings covering crushed bodies, spread throughout the Arab world. Various casualty figures circulated, reaching into the mid-hundreds. Palestinian sources described the events as "the Jenin massacre", and international media and human rights organizations expressed concerns that a massacre had taken place.
As part of the operation, which involved invasions of cities and towns all over the West Bank, Israel targeted Jenin's refugee camp, after it determined that the city had "served as a launch site for numerous terrorist attacks against both Israeli civilians and Israeli towns and villages in the area",<ref>[http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/MFAArchive/2000_2009/2002/4/Jenin-s%20Terrorist%20Infrastructure%20-%204-Apr-2002 Apr 2002 Jenin's Terrorist Infrastructure 4 Apr 2002 (Communicated by the IDF Spokesman)]</ref> including the dispatch of 28 suicide bombers since the start of the Second Intifada.<ref name="BBCmartyrs">[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3015814.stm 'Jenin rises from the dirt' by Ken Lee (BBC News)]</ref>


Subsequent Israeli investigations found no evidence to substantiate these charges; however, international human rights organizations such as [[Human Rights Watch]] and [[Amnesty International]] alleged that war crimes had occurred.
The Israeli force consisted of [[infantry]] and [[armored vehicles]], supported by [[attack helicopters]]. Towards the end of operations [[armored bulldozer]]s were used heavily<ref name="azure">[http://www.azure.org.il/magazine/magazine.asp?id=216 'Urban Warfare and the Lessons of Jenin' by Yagil Henkin (Azure magazine)]</ref><ref name="Crucible">[http://observer.guardian.co.uk/worldview/story/0,11581,684251,00.html 'Ten-day ordeal in crucible of Jenin/Eyewitnesses accuse Israel of massacre' by Peter Beaumont (The Observer)]</ref><ref>[http://www.tau.ac.il/jcss/memoranda/memo63.pdf 'The Battle of Jenin: A Case Study in Israel’s Communications Strategy'] (pg. 16) by Jaffee Center for Strategic Studies, [[Tel Aviv University]]</ref> which caused extensive damage and contributed to the destruction of around 10% of the camp area.<ref name="azure"/><ref>[http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0204/24/ltm.02.html CNN.com Transcripts: American Morning]</ref><ref name="WashTimes0501"/>
==Prelude==

===Jenin===
The Israeli military denied entry to journalists and human rights organizations, leading to a rapid cycle of rumors that a massacre had occurred. Jenin remained sealed for days after the invasion. Stories of civilians being buried alive in their homes as they were demolished, and of smoldering buildings covering crushed bodies, spread throughout the Arab world. Various casualty figures circulated, reaching into the mid-hundreds. [[Battle of Jenin#Fluctuations in reported deaths|Palestinian sources]] described the events as "the Jenin massacre," and international media and human rights organizations expressed concerns that a [[Wiktionary:massacre|massacre]] had taken place.
Several hundred armed men from the [[Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades]], [[Tanzim]], [[Palestinian Islamic Jihad]], and [[Hamas]] had been using the Jenin refugee camp as a base, known as "the [[Martyr (shahid)|martyrs]]' capital",<ref name="BBCmartyrs"/> and of the 100 [[Suicide bombing|suicide bombers]] who had launched terrorist attacks since the [[Second Intifada]] began in October 2000, 28 attacks had been launched from there. One of the key planners of attacks was [[Mahmoud Tawalbe]], [[Palestinian Islamic Jihad]] commander of the camp.<ref name=Time/>

[[Image:City of Jenin and refugee camp.jpg|thumb|left|Aerial image of the city of Jenin (Jenin refugee camp marked in a square), prior to the battle.]]
Subsequent Israeli investigations found no evidence to substantiate these charges; however, international human rights organizations such as [[Human Rights Watch]] and [[Amnesty International]] alleged that war crimes had occurred.<ref>[http://hrw.org/reports/2002/israel3/israel0502-05.htm#P234_38516 CIVILIAN CASUALTIES AND UNLAWFUL KILLINGS IN JENIN] by [[Human Rights Watch|HRW]]</ref> The Palestinian death toll was estimated at 52 in early May 2002, while 23 Israeli soldiers were killed. According to the ''[[Washington Times]]'', Palestinian officials counted 56 deaths.<ref name="WashTimes0501" />
Unlike other camps, the organizations in Jenin had a joint commander. [[Hazem Ahmad Rayhan Qabha]], known as "Abu Jandal", an officer in the [[Palestinian National and Islamic Forces]] who had fought in [[Lebanon]] and served in the [[Iraqi Army]]. He was also involved in several encounters with the IDF. He set up a war room and divided the camp into fifteen sub-sectors, deploying about twenty armed men in each.<ref name=harel254-255>Harel and Isacharoff (2004), pp. 254-255</ref> During the battle, he began calling himself "The Martyr Abu Jandal".<ref name=memri>{{Cite journal

| volume = 90
Despite new findings following the battle, including a decrease in the official death toll, most Palestinians and most Arabs continue to call the events of April 2002 a massacre.<ref>{{cite web
| issue = April 23, 2002
|url=http://www.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/70AD5B25-902B-4E2E-9F59-BF9DE8478310.htm
| title = The Palestinian Account of the Battle of Jenin
|title=تقرير الأمين العام للأمم المتحدة عن مجزرة جني
| journal = MEMRI
|publisher=[[Al Jazeera]]
|accessdate=2008-07-23
| accessdate = 2008-09-19
| url = http://www.memri.org/bin/articles.cgi?Page=archives&Area=ia&ID=IA9002
|last=
|first=
}}</ref>
}}</ref>


Limited Israeli forces had entered the camp along a single route twice in the previous month; they had encountered heavy resistance and quickly departed. Since the previous Israeli withdrawal, Palestinian militants had prepared by [[boobytrap]]ping both the town and camp's streets in a bid to trap the Israeli soldiers,<ref name=Ahram>{{Cite news
==Background==
| issue = 582
:''For wider scope background regarding [[Arab-Israeli Conflict]] [[Second Intifada]] events from March until the first week in May 2002, see: [[Operation Defensive Shield]]''.
| last = Cook
| first = Jonathan
| title = The 'engineer'
| work = Al-Ahram
| accessdate = 2008-09-22
| url = http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2002/582/6inv2.htm
}}</ref> some of them as large as 113 [[kilograms]] (250 [[Pound (mass)|pounds]]).<ref name=Time/> Islamic Jihad activist Tabaat Mardawi later said that Palestinian fighters had spread "between 1000 and 2000 bombs and [[booby trap]]s" throughout the camp.<ref name=CNNMardawi/> "Omar the Engineer", a Palestinian bombmaker later claimed that some 50 homes were booby trapped, saying "We chose old and empty buildings and the houses of men who were wanted by Israel because we knew the soldiers would search for them".<ref name=Ahram/>


===Israel===
=== The refugee camp of Jenin ===
The Israeli command decided to this time send in three thrusts comprised mainly of the reservist [[5th Infantry Brigade (Israe)|5th Infantry Brigade]] from the town of Jenin to the north, as well as a company of the [[Nahal]] Brigade from the southeast and Battalion 51 of the [[Golani Brigade]] from the southwest. The force of 1,000 troops also included elements of the [[Shayetet 13]] and [[Duvdevan Unit]] special forces, the [[Armor Corps (Israel)|Armoured Corps]], and [[Combat Engineering Corps (Israel)|Combat Engineers]] with [[armored bulldozer]] for neutralizing the [[Improvised explosive device|roadside bomb]]s that would line the alleys of the camp according to [[Military Intelligence Directorate (Israel)|Military Intelligence]]. Anticipating the heaviest resistance in [[Nablus]], IDF commanders sent two regular infantry brigades there, assuming they could take over the Jenin camp in 48-72 hours with just the one reservist brigade. The force's entry was delayed until [[April 2]] due to rain.<ref name=Time/> The 5th Infantry Brigade did not have any experience in [[Close Quarters Combat]] and did not have a commander when Operation Defensive Shield started, since the last commander's service ended a few days earlier. His substitute was a reserve officer, Lieutenant Colonel [[Yehuda Yedidia]], who got his rank after the operation began. His soldiers were not trained for urban fighting.<ref name=harel253-254>Harel and Isacharoff (2004), pp. 253-254</ref> In March, after an IDF action in Ramallah, the television broadcast footage whcih was considered unflattering. As a result, the IDF high command decided not to allow reporters to join the forces.<ref name="harel259" />
[[Image:City of Jenin and refugee camp.jpg|thumb|right|250px|Aerial image of the city of Jenin (Jenin refugee camp marked in a square), prior to ''[[Operation Defensive Shield]]'' and the ''Battle of Jenin''.]]
The camp of Jenin, adjoining the south-west outskirts of the Jenin city, is the second largest [[United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East|UNRWA]] refugee camp in the West Bank. It existed since 1953 and housed 13,055 in an area of 548 squared meters, forming a neighborhood of densely packed buildings alongside Jenin-proper and not far from the [[Green Line (Israel)|Green Line]]. It had come under Palestinian civil and security control with the rest of the city as part of the [[Oslo Accords]] in 1995, which dictated a prevention of attacks on Israelis.

=== Increase in militancy and terrorism ===

From the beginning of March until the first week in May 2002, there were approximately 16 bombings in Israel, mostly suicide attacks, in which more than 100 Israelis were killed and scores wounded. During the same period the [[Israeli Defense Forces]] (IDF) led two waves of incursions into Palestinian towns and villages in the [[West Bank]]. The first wave, from [[27 February]]<ref>{{cite video
|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/olmedia/1845000/video/_1845544_mideast15_plett_vi.ram
|title=Israel strikes inside refugee camps
|people=Blett, Barbara (Reporter)
|date=2002-02-28
|format=[[RealVideo]]
|publisher=BBC
|accessdate=2007-09-09}}</ref> through [[14 March]], had caused significant loss of life.<ref name=UN/>

After 18 Israelis were killed in two separate Palestinian attacks on [[March 8]] and [[March 9]], and a [[Netanya suicide attack|terrorist attack in Netanya]] killed 30 and injured 140 on [[March 27]],<ref name=UN> [http://www.un.org/peace/jenin/ UN Report on Jenin]</ref> Israeli PM [[Ariel Sharon]] said ''No sovereign nation would tolerate such a sequence of events.'' while DM Ben-Eliezer stated ''a massacre of this nature is something that no nation can live with.''<ref name="PMnDM"/> and within 24 hours Israel called up 30,000 [[Israel Defense Forces#Reserve service|reserve soldiers]] and launched [[Operation Defensive Shield]] in [[Ramallah]] and [[Siege of the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem|Bethlehem]], entering [[Tulkarm]] and [[Qalqilyah]] a day later.<ref name=Time/>

According to Israeli and Palestinian observers who gave information to the UN, 200 armed men from the [[Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades]], [[Tanzim]], [[Palestinian Islamic Jihad]], and [[Hamas]] had been using the camp as a base, known as "the [[Martyr (shahid)|martyrs]]' capital",<ref name="FatahMar">[http://www.intelligence.org.il/eng/bu/jenin/jenin_e.htm Jenin: The Capital of the Palestinian Suicide Terrorists] (according to [[Fatah]])</ref><ref name="BBCmartyrs"/><ref name=Time/> and of the 100 [[Suicide bombing|suicide bombers]] who had launched terrorist attacks since the [[Second Intifada]] began in October 2000, 23<ref>[http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/MFAArchive/2000_2009/2002/7/Suicide%20Bombers%20from%20Jenin Suicide Bombers from Jenin]</ref> or 28<ref name=UN/><ref name=Time/> attacks had been launched from there. One of the key planners of attacks was [[Mahmoud Tawalbe]], [[Palestinian Islamic Jihad]] commander of the camp.<ref name=Time/> Islamic Jihad's and Hamas' consistent rationale is that Israel has no right to exist, and that its existence is an affront to Palestinian interests and rights.

Limited Israeli forces had entered the camp along a single route twice in the previous month; they had encountered heavy resistance and quickly departed. The command decided to this time send in three thrusts comprised mainly of the reservist [[5th Infantry Brigade|5th Infantry Brigade/Nachshon]] from the town of Jenin to the north, as well as a company of the [[Nahal]] Brigade from the southeast and Battalion 51 of the [[Golani Brigade]] from the southwest. The force of 1,000 troops also included elements of the [[Shayetet 13|Naval commando]] and [[Duvdevan Unit]] special forces, the [[Armor Corps (Israel)|Armoured Corps]], and [[Combat Engineering Corps (Israel)|Combat Engineers]] with [[armored bulldozer]] for neutralising the [[Improvised explosive device|roadside bomb]]s that would line the alleys of the camp according to [[Military Intelligence Directorate (Israel)|Military Intelligence]]. Anticipating the heaviest resistance in [[Nablus]], IDF commanders sent two regular infantry brigades there, assuming they could take over the Jenin camp in 48-72 hours with just the one reservist brigade, an assessment which turned out to be overly optimistic. The force's entry was delayed until [[April 2]] due to rain.<ref name=Time/>

Since the previous Israeli withdrawal, Palestinian militants had prepared by [[boobytrap]]ping both the town and camp's streets in a bid to trap the Israeli soldiers,<ref name=Ahram>[http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2002/582/6inv2.htm The 'engineer']</ref> some of them as large as 113 [[kilograms]] (250 [[Pound (mass)|pounds]]). Matt Rees of ''Time'' magazine compared this weight to the 25 pounds of a typical suicide bomber's charge. They had also cut tunnels between homes to maintain mobility without exposing themselves to the street.<ref name=Time/>


== The battle ==
== The battle ==
[[Image:IDF-D9L001.jpg|thumb|A [[Caterpillar D9]]L [[armored bulldozer]] used by the [[Israel Defense Forces|IDF]] during the battle.]]
Israeli forces entered on 2 April, and had secured the town of Jenin by the second day. Israeli intelligence estimated that half the population of noncombatants had left before they arrived, and 90% had done so by the third day, leaving around 1,300 people.<ref name=Time/> The EU's contribution to the UN report said ''"at least 4,000 remained inside and did not evacuate the camp."''<ref name=UN/>
Israeli forces entered on 2 April, five days after the invasion of [[Ramallah]]. On the first day, reserve company commander Moshe Gerstner was killed in a PIJ sector. This caused a further delay.<ref name=harel254>Harel and Isacharoff (2004), p. 254</ref> Jenin was secured by the second day. A Caterpillar D-9 bulldozer drove along a three-quarter-mile stretch of the main street to clear booby traps. An [[Israeli Engineering Corps]] officer logged 124 separate explosions set off by the bulldozer. A Fatah leader in the camp later said that it was only when his forces saw the Israelis advancing on foot that they decided to stay and fight.<ref name=Time/>


By the third day, the Palestinians were still dug in, and seven Israeli soldiers had been killed. Mardawi later testified to having killed two of them from close range, using an M-16. IDF chief of staff ([[Ramatkal]]) [[Shaul Mofaz]] urged the officers to speed things up. They asked for twenty-four more hours. Mofaz told reporters that the fighting would be complete by the end of the week, April 6. In some of the sectors, the forces were advancing at a rate of fifty meters a day.<ref name=harel255>Harel and Isacharoff (2004), p. 255</ref>
Palestinian militants had expected an air strike since their security forces' barracks in the Gaza Strip and West Bank had been repeatedly bombed by an Israeli military that didn't want to risk the casualties of [[Close Quarters Combat]].<ref name=Time/> However in Jenin, the IDF chose not to bomb the spots of resistance using aircraft in order to minimize civilian losses,<ref name=UN/><!--- [http://www.idf.il/newsite/english/amnesty0407-2.htm] Commented out due to link not working. If link found, please replace---will put in the UN REPORT on Jenin as it states same---> even with the risk of increased losses to [[infantry]],<ref name=CNNMardawi>[http://archives.cnn.com/2002/WORLD/meast/04/22/jenin.fighter/index.html Palestinian fighter describes 'hard fight' in Jenin]</ref> although there was limited use of [[helicopter]]s.<ref name=UN/><ref name=Time/> This was a very costly decision on behalf of the Israeli forces, which brought the loss of 13 soldiers from the [[Golani Brigade]] in an ambush on 9 April.


The Israeli Intelligence assumed that the vast majority of the camp's residents were still in it. Most commanders argued that this obliged a careful advance for fear of striking civilians, and warned that using excessive force would cost the lives of hundreds of Palestinians. Lieutenant Colonel [[Ofek Buchris]], commander of the 51st Battalion, was left in a minority opinion, saying "We're being humiliated here for four days now". When Mofaz instructed the officers to be more aggressive and fire five antitank missiles at every house before entering, one of them contemplated disobedience.<ref name=harel255>Harel and Isacharoff (2004), p. 255</ref>
A leader of Fatah gunmen in the camp told ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'' that it was only when his forces saw the Israelis advancing on foot that they decided to stay and fight.<ref name=Time/> [[Palestinian Islamic Jihad]] militant Tabaat (or Thabet) Mardawi enthusiastically told [[CNN]] from his prison in Israel, that after learning the IDF was going to use troops, and not planes, "It was like hunting ... like being given a prize... The Israelis knew that any soldier who went into the camp like that was going to get killed... I've been waiting for a moment like that for years." Mardawi told CNN that Palestinian fighters had spread "between 1000 and 2000 bombs and [[booby trap]]s" throughout the camp.<ref name=CNNMardawi/>
[[Image:P8220585.JPG|thumb|left|widthpx|[[IDF Achzarit]].]]
Buchris stuck to an aggressive warfare of softening antitank fire and extensive use of bulldozers. In his sector, a method for guaranteeing lower risk to the soldiers was developed: A bulldozer rams the corner of a house, opening a hole. Then, an [[Achzarit]] arrives and disembarks troops into the house.<ref name=harel255>Harel and Isacharoff (2004), p. 255</ref> Buchris' battalion was advancing faster than the reserve forces, creating a bridgehead within the camp, which attracted most of the Palestinian fire. During the first week of fighting, the battalion suffered five casualties. On April 8, Golani Brigade commander, Colonel Tamir, arrived from Nablus. Having crawled with Buchris to the front line, he warned that the fighting style must be changed completely - call in more troops and perhaps take the command out of the reserve brigade's hand. By evening, division commander, Brigadier General Eyal Shlein told his men that the mission must be accomplished by 6:00 PM on April 9.<ref name=harel256>Harel and Isacharoff (2004), p. 256</ref> Buchris himself was later badly wounded.<ref name="citation">{{Cite news
| title = Citation to Golani battalion commander badly wounded in Defensive Shield
| work = nrg
| accessdate = 2008-09-22
| date = 2002-07-08
| url = http://www.nrg.co.il/online/archive/ART/316/734.html
}}</ref> {{he icon}}


As the IDF advanced, the Palestinians fell back to the heavily defended camp center - the Hawashin district. The Israelis began to call in [[AH-1 Cobra]] helicopters to hit rooftop positions along with Caterpillar D9 armored bulldozers to detonate the booby traps and clear a path for tanks.<ref name=Time/>
An IDF [[Caterpillar D9]] [[armored bulldozer]] driving along a 1.2 km stretch of the main street to clear booby traps set off 124 explosions.<ref name=Time/>


===Ambush===
By the third day, despite previous Israeli assessments, the Palestinians were still dug in, and seven Israeli soldiers had been killed. As the IDF advanced, the Palestinians fell back to the heavily defended camp centre - the Hawashin district.<ref name=Time/> The Israelis began to call in [[AH-1 Cobra]] helicopters to hit rooftop positions along with Caterpillar D9 armoured bulldozers to detonate the booby traps and clear a path for tanks.<ref name=Time/>
At 6:00 AM, reserve battalion 7020's support company was ordered to form a new line, west of the former one. It's commander, Major Oded Golomb, set out with a force to take a position in a new house. He strayed from the original path, perhaps for tactical considerations, but failed to report to his commander. The force walked into a Palestinian ambush, finding themselves in an inner courtyard surrounded by tall houses (nicknamed "the bathtub") and under fire from all directions. Rescue forces from the company and the battalion hurried to the location and were hurt by fire and explosive charges. The exchange of fire lasted several hours.<ref name=harel256/>


A reconnaissance aircraft documented much of the fight and the footage was transmitted live, watched in the [[Israeli Central Command]] war room, by the high ranking officers. During the battle, the Palestinians managed to snatch three Israeli soldiers' bodies into a nearby house. Colonel Ram, the Shayetet commander who had fought in the camp with his men, quickly put up a rescue force. Mofaz told him that negotiation over the bodies might force the IDF to halt the operation and get it in trouble similar to the [[2000 Hezbollah cross-border raid]]. On the edge of the alley leading to "the bathtub", Ram questioned the wounded reservists. Finally, he broke with his troops to the nearby house and, after a battle, located the bodies and got them out. In the afternoon, all Israeli casualties were evacuated from the area.<ref name=harel256-257>Harel and Isacharoff (2004), pp. 256-257</ref> It became the deadliest day for the IDF since the end of the [[1982 Lebanon War]].<ref name=Time/>
On the seventh day, [[9 April]], 13 Israeli soldiers were killed when Palestinian fighters used civilians to lure an Israeli patrol into a booby-trapped [[ambush]], and then opened fire on those retrieving wounded.<ref name=Ahram/> When another soldier was killed on the camp's edge, it became the deadliest day for the IDF since the end of the [[1982 Lebanon War]].<ref name=Time/>


During that day, the IDF censored reports on the events, leading to a wave of rumors. Partial information leaked through phone calls made by reservists and internet sites. By evening, when Chief of Central Command, Brigadier General [[Yitzhak Eitan]], had a press conference, there were rumors of a helicopter full with dozens of fighters shot down, the death of the Ramatkal's deputy and a heart attack suffered by the [[Israeli Minister of Defense]].<ref name=harel257/>
=== Change in Israeli tactics ===
[[Image:IDF-D9L001.jpg|thumb|A [[Caterpillar D9]]L [[armored bulldozer]] used by the [[Israel Defense Forces|IDF]] during the battle.]]
After the [[April 9]] ambush, the IDF changed tactics, presumably in order to continue the operation without risking more Israeli deaths, and increased to a dozen the [[Caterpillar D9]] [[armored bulldozer]]s in operation. The IDF maintained that the heavy bulldozers were mainly used to clear walls and streets of [[booby trap]]s, open routes and widen alleyways for [[armored fighting vehicle]]s, and to secure locations and movement for IDF troops. ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'' reported that while houses were knocked down by the bulldozers, they could not have buried the amount of people alleged by Palestinians since it takes a half-hour to fully wreck a building, and because Israeli soldiers say they always called any residents to leave in advance. Even if civilians were too frightened to leave initially, they surely would once the D9 started working. A senior Palestinian military officer told ''Time'' that the gunmen's own booby traps probably buried some civilians and fighters alive, some of the larger charges capable of more devastation than a D9.<ref name=Time/>


===Change in Israeli tactics===
A day later, [[Mahmoud Tawallbe]] and two other militants went into a house so as to get close enough to a tank or armoured D-9 bulldozer to plant a bomb. According to a British military expert working in the camp for [[Amnesty International]], a D9 driver probably saw him and rammed a wall down onto him. Tawallbe's name subsequently became familiar in the Arab world.<ref name=Time/>
After the ambush, all Israeli forces began to advance by the "Buchris method". Several officers demanded that [[F-16]]s be sent to drop bombs, but the IDF high command refused.<ref name=harel257>Harel and Isacharoff (2004), p. 257</ref> The number of [[Caterpillar D9]]s in operation increased to a dozen, and the IDF maintained that the heavy bulldozers were mainly used to clear walls and streets of [[booby trap]]s, open routes and widen alleyways for [[armored fighting vehicle]]s, and to secure locations and movement for IDF troops.<ref name=Time/>


A day later, [[Mahmoud Tawallbe]] and two other militants went into a house so as to get close enough to a tank or armored D-9 bulldozer to plant a bomb. According to a British military expert working in the camp for [[Amnesty International]], a D9 driver probably saw him and rammed a wall down onto him.<ref name=Time/>
The D9s led Israeli forces deeper into the camp until on the ninth day, a D9 sliced the wall off a house in the heavily defended Hawashin district, and 39 dazed gunmen surrendered with their hands in the air. Among the militants were [[Palestinian Islamic Jihad]] members Tabaat Mardawi and Ali Suleiman al-Saadi, known as ''Safouri'', Israeli targets responsible for a number of attacks and whose incarceration meant the combat would soon end.<ref name=Time/>


At 7:00 AM on April 11, the Palestinians began to surrender. Qabha refused to surrender, and was among the last to die.<ref name=harel257/> [[Zakaria Zubeidi]] was among the only fighters who did not surrender, and he managed to slip out of the area surrounded by the IDF, and moved through the houses and it left.<ref name=harel258>Harel and Isacharoff (2004), p. 258</ref> Mardawi surrendered along with Ali Suleiman al-Saadi, known as "Safouri", and thirty-nine others.<ref name=Time/> He later said that "There was nothing I could do against that bulldozer".<ref name=CNNMardawi/>
According to ''Time'', "It was real urban warfare, as a modern, well-equipped army met an armed and prepared group of guerrilla fighters intimately familiar with the local terrain. For both sides, Jenin has been added to the memories that invest the conflict in the Middle East with such bitterness." A total of 23 Israeli soldiers were killed in the street fighting.<ref name=Time/>


== Aftermath ==
== Aftermath ==
[[Image:Jenin camp-aerial2002.jpg|thumb|right|Aerial photograph of the area demolished in the Jenin camp's central ''Hawashin'' district.]]
[[Image:Jenin camp-aerial2002.jpg|thumb|right|Aerial photograph of the area demolished in the Jenin camp's central ''Hawashin'' district.]]
After the battle, Israeli intelligence estimated that half the population of noncombatants had left before the invasion, and 90% had done so by the third day, leaving around 1,300 people. The EU's contribution to the UN report said "at least 4,000 remained inside and did not evacuate the camp".<ref name=Time/> David Holley, a Major in the British Territorial Army and a military adviser to [[Amnesty International]], reported that an area within the refugee camp of about 100m by 200m was flattened.<ref name=BBCexpert>{{Cite news
The introduction of the heavily [[armored bulldozer]]s, which shrugged off explosives and [[Rocket propelled grenade|RPGs]] alike,<ref>[http://archives.cnn.com/2002/WORLD/meast/04/22/jenin.fighter/index.html CNN.com - Palestinian fighter describes 'hard fight' in Jenin - April 23, 2002<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> and the threat of being buried alive, caused the Palestinian militants to surrender. Later, IDF forces withdrew gradually from the refugee camp under international pressure.
| title = Expert weighs up Jenin 'massacre'
| work = BBC
| accessdate = 2008-09-21
| date = 2002-04-29
| url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/1957862.stm
}}</ref> The BBC reported that ten percents of the camp were destroyed in the fighting.<ref name="BBCmartyrs"/> Most of the demolition occurred in the Hawashin neighborhood, where most of the militants and explosives remained. Israel states that it demolished those houses because they were densely rigged with explosives.<ref name=Ahram/> The Israelis also claimed to have found explosive-making labs.<ref name="saporito">{{Cite news
| issn = 0040-718X
| last = Saporito
| first = Bill
| title = Jenin: Defiant to the Death
| work = Time
| accessdate = 2008-09-21
| date = 2002-04-14
| url = http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,230385-1,00.html
}}</ref>


One Israeli special forces commander who fought in the camp said that "the Palestinians were admirably well prepared. They correctly analyzed the lessons of the previous raid".<ref name=harel255/> An internal investigation published by the IDF six months after the battle implicitly cast the responsibility for the death of the thirteen soldiers on them, for straying from their path unreported. It also said that the focusing on the rescue instead of subduing the enemy complicated things.<ref name=harel258/> Buchris was given the [[Israeli military decorations|Chief of Staff citation]].<ref name="citation" />
After the conflict Israeli reports claim that 8-9% of the houses within the refugee camp were destroyed. This was largely within an area of intense fighting of approximately 100 m by 100 m according to the IDF.<ref>[http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/MFAArchive/2000_2009/2002/4/Aerial%20Photographs%20of%20Jenin Aerial Photographs of Jenin<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>. An area within the refugee camp, 100 m by 200 m according to some (up to 400 m by 500 m by other estimates)<ref>{{cite news | title=Blasted to rubble by the Israelis | url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2002/04/16/wmid16.xml&sSheet=/portal/2002/04/16/ixport.html | date=2002-04-17 | publisher=[[The Daily Telegraph]] | author=[[David Blair (journalist)|David Blair]] | accessdate=2007-02-22}}</ref><ref name=AI>{{cite web
| title =Israel and the Occupied Territories Shielded from scrutiny: IDF violations in Jenin and Nablus
| publisher = Amnesty International
| date = [[2002-11-04]]
| url = http://web.amnesty.org/library/Index/ENGMDE151432002?open&of=ENG-PSE
| accessdate = 2007-09-05}}
</ref> was reported to have been flattened.<ref name=BBCexpert>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/1957862.stm Expert weighs up Jenin 'massacre']. BBC News, 29 April 2002</ref> Reports added that six (globalsecurity.org) or ten (BBC) percent of the camp were destroyed in the fighting.<ref>[http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/palestine/jenin-imagery.htm 'Jenin, Palestine - 32°27'39"N 35°17'20"E/IDF aerial imagery the Jenin Refugee Camp'] ([[globalsecurity.org]])</ref><ref name="BBCmartyrs"/>


Mardawi told [[CNN]] from his prison in Israel, that after learning the IDF was going to use troops, and not planes, "It was like hunting ... like being given a prize... The Israelis knew that any soldier who went into the camp like that was going to get killed... I've been waiting for a moment like that for years".<ref name=CNNMardawi>{{Cite news
Most of the demolition occurred in the Hawashin neighborhood, where most of the militants and explosives remained. Israel states that it demolished those houses because they were densely rigged with explosives.<ref name=Ahram/>
| title = Palestinian fighter describes 'hard fight' in Jenin
| work = CNN.com
| accessdate = 2008-09-18
| date = 2002-04-23
| url = http://archives.cnn.com/2002/WORLD/meast/04/22/jenin.fighter/index.html
}}</ref> Yasser Arafat compared the fighting to the [[Battle of Stalingrad]],<ref name=burston>{{Cite news
| last = Burston
| first = Bradley
| title = Sderot as Stalingrad, Hamas as blind Samson
| work = Haaretz
| accessdate = 2008-09-20
| date = 2008-02-12
| url = http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/953207.html
}}</ref> and it later became known among the Palestinians as "Jeningrad".<ref name=jeningrad>{{Cite news
| last = Belden
| first = Paul
| title = A street fight called Jeningrad
| work = Asia Times
| accessdate = 2008-09-21
| date = 2003-04-09
| url = http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/ED09Ak04.html
}}</ref>


===Removal of bodies===
In October 2002, according to the Walla news agency, Palestinian Islamic Jihad and Hamas websites reported that their forces in Jenin before the Israeli entry included 250 armed militants. The official [[Kol Yisrael]] radio station reported that 15,000 explosive charges were at the militants' disposal, as well as a large number of handguns. The militants were well organized and had an extensive system of communications.
The IDF intended to bury those identified by the army as terrorists in a special cemetery for fallen enemy troops in the [[Jordan Valley]]. Some of the bodies had already been removed from the camp Thursday and moved to a site near Jenin, but had not been buried. Others had been buried by Palestinians during the battle in a mass grave near the hospital on the outskirts of the camp. The petitioners claimed the IDF's decision violated international law as the Jordan Valley cemetery would, according to them, be basically a mass grave, thus damaging the honor of the dead.<ref name=courtrejects>{{Cite news
| last = Harel
| first = Amos
| coauthors = Gideon Alon, Jalal Bana
| title = Court rejects petitions demanding IDF not remove Jenin dead
| work = Haaretz
| accessdate = 2008-09-21
| date = 2002-04-14
| url = http://www.haaretz.co.il/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=151948
}}</ref>


On April 12, in response to a petition presented by the [[Adalah]] organization, the [[Israeli High Court]] ordered the IDF not to remove the bodies of Palestinians killed in the battle until a hearing is held on the matter. The petition was signed by MKs [[Mohammed Barakeh]] and [[Ahmed Tibi]].<ref name=courtidf>{{Cite news
[[Al-Ahram Online]] interviewed with "Omar the Engineer", a Palestinian bombmaker who claimed that some 50 homes were booby trapped. "We chose old and empty buildings and the houses of men who were wanted by Israel because we knew the soldiers would search for them," he said.<ref name=Ahram/>
| last = Harel
| first = Amos
| coauthors = Anat Cygielman, Jalal Bana
| title = Court: IDF can't move bodies; Lieberman: Barak must be ousted
| work = Haaretz
| accessdate = 2008-09-21
| date = 2002-04-13
| url = http://www.haaretz.co.il/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=151643
}}</ref> Following the court's decision, issued by Supreme Court President [[Aharon Barak]], the IDF stopped clearing the bodies from the camp.<ref name=courtrejects/> On April 15, Adalah and [[LAW]], the [[Palestinian Society for the Protection of Human Rights and the Environment]], filed a petition, asking the Court to order the IDF to immediately hand over the bodies of Palestinians to the [[International Committee of the Red Cross]] or the [[Palestinian Red Crescent Society]], claiming that despite Sunday's court's ruling, the IDF was leaving the bodies of dead Palestinians to rot in the Jenin refugee camp.<ref name=hass>{{Cite news
| last = Hass
| first = Amira
| coauthors = Moshe Reinfeld
| title = Court told: IDF leaving dead to rot in Jenin
| work = Haaretz
| accessdate = 2008-09-21
| date = 2002-04-16
| url = http://www.haaretz.co.il/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=152568
}}</ref>


==Casualties==
According to Lt. Colonel Adir Haruvi of the IDF, numerous buildings, passages and even bodies were booby-trapped, often prompting Israelis to use armored bulldozers to level numerous buildings.<ref>[http://www.tau.ac.il/jcss/memoranda/memo63.pdf memo63<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> The Israelis also claimed to have found more than a dozen explosive-making labs. {{Fact|date=August 2007}}
Initially, reporting of casualty numbers varied widely between sources and fluctuated day to day. On April 10, the BBC reported that Israel estimated 150 Palestinians had died in Jenin, and that the Palestinians were saying the number is far higher.<ref name="israelipullout">{{Cite news
| title = Israeli pull-out on hold after bombing
| work = BBC
| accessdate = 2008-09-21
| date = 2002-04-10
| url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/1920463.stm
}}</ref> [[Saeb Erekat]], on a phone interview to CNN from [[Jericho]], estimated 500 dead in Operation Defensive Shield in total.<ref name="colinpowell">{{Cite news
| title = Colin Powell's Challenge
| work = CNN.com
| accessdate = 2008-09-21
| date = 2002-04-10
| url = http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0204/10/i_ins.00.html
}}</ref> On April 11, the Palestinians reported 500 dead.<ref>{{Cite news
| last = Wedeman
| first = Ben
| title = Access to Jenin difficult
| work = CNN.com
| accessdate = 2008-09-21
| date = 2002-04-11
| url = http://edition.cnn.com/2002/WORLD/meast/04/11/wedeman.otsc/index.html
}}</ref> On April 12, Brigadier-General Ron Kitri said on [[Israeli Army Radio]] that there are apparently hundreds killed. He later retracted this statement.<ref name="sadeh">{{Cite news
| last = Sadeh
| first = Sharon
| title = How Jenin battle became a 'massacre'
| work = The Guardian
| accessdate = 2008-09-18
| date = 2002-05-16
| url = http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2002/may/06/mondaymediasection5
}}</ref> Secretary-General of the Palestinian Authority, [[Ahmed Abdel Rahman]], said that thousands of Palestinians were either killed and buried in massive graveyards or smashed under houses destroyed in Jenin and Nablus.<ref name="newsmax">{{Cite news
| title = Palestinians: Hundreds in Mass Graves
| work = Newsmax.com
| accessdate = 2008-09-21
| date = 2002-04-13
| url = http://archive.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2002/4/12/163750.shtml
}}</ref> On April 13, Palestinian Information Minister, [[Yasser Abed Rabbo]], accused Israel of digging mass graves for 900 Palestinians in the camp.<ref>[http://www.sabcnews.com/world/the_middle_east/0,2172,32177,00.html Jenin refugee camp emerges defeated], [http://www.sabcnews.com sabcnews.com]</ref> On April 14, After IDF gave a final figure of forty-five casualties.<ref name="israelinsider">{{cite web|url=http://www.israelinsider.com/channels/security/articles/sec_0240.htm |publisher=[[Israelinsider]]|title=Security: IDF now estimates 45 Palestinians died in Jenin fighting|accessdate=2008-06-30|date=2002-04-14|author=Shuman, Ellis and israelinsider staff }}</ref> On April 18, Zalman Shoval, adviser to Sharon, estimated that only about sixty-five bodies had been recovered, of which five were civilians.<ref name="massacreevidence">{{Cite news
| title = Jenin 'massacre evidence growing'
| work = BBC
| accessdate = 2008-09-21
| date = 2002-04-18
| url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/1937048.stm
}}</ref> On April 30, [[Qadoura Mousa]], director of the [[Fatah]] for the northern [[West Bank]], set the total dead at fifty-six.<ref name="martin" />


After the battle, the UN estimated the death toll at fifty-two Palestinians and twenty-three Israelis.<ref name="unsays">{{Cite news
== Battle casualties ==
| title = UN says no massacre in Jenin
| work = BBC
| accessdate = 2008-09-21
| date = 2002-08-01
| url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/2165272.stm
}}</ref> One Palestinian [[Fatah]] official reportedly put the death toll at fifty-six.<ref name="martin">{{Cite news
| last = Martin
| first = Paul
| title = Jenin 'massacre' reduced to death toll of 56
| work = The Washington Times
| accessdate = 2008-09-21
| date = 2002-05-01
| url = http://www.papillonsartpalace.com/jenin.htm
}}</ref> Haaretz journalists Amos Harel and Avi Isacharoff wrote in 2004 that the Israeli casualties were twenty-three dead and fifty-two wounded, while the Palestinian casualties were fifty-three dead, hundreds wounded and about 200 captured.<ref name=harel257-258>Harel and Isacharoff (2004), pp. 257-258</ref> According to retired IDF General [[Shlomo Gazit]], the Palestinians suffered fifty-five killed while Israel suffered thirty-three.<ref name="gazit">Herzog & Gazit (2005), p. 433</ref>


==UN fact-finding mission==
In the aftermath of the battle, most sources ultimately reported 52-56 Palestinian deaths before the end of Israeli operations. Based on "very limited fact finding," [[United Nations]] reported "at least 52" confirmed Palestinian deaths.<ref name=UN/> [[Human Rights Watch]] "confirmed that at least fifty-two Palestinians were killed ... This figure may rise".<ref>[http://hrw.org/reports/2002/israel3/israel0502-01.htm#P49_1774 HRW Summary on hrw.org]</ref> Similarly, the IDF estimate the number at 52. Amnesty International reported 54 Palestinian deaths. No significantly different figures have been confirmed since this time. The HRW and IDF differ over combatant deaths, with the IDF counting 38 "armed men" and the HRW counting 30 "militants." In general, Palestinian officials have spoken of significantly higher unconfirmed deaths,<ref>For example, see UN report noting initial PA estimates of about 500 and subsequent reports, e.g. May 2, 2002, of more than 200 deaths.</ref> though one Palestinian [[Fatah]] official reportedly put the death toll at 56.<ref name="Qadoura56">[http://www.papillonsartpalace.com/jenin.htm 'Jenin "massacre" reduced to death toll of 56' by Paul Martin, ''Washington Times'' (host site)]</ref> A few Palestinian deaths were reported subsequent or ancillary to the main battle.<ref>For instance, bomb-disposal teams refused entry for 'several weeks' in which time at least two Palestinians were accidentally killed from unexploded ordnance, according to information submitted in the UN report.</ref> The IDF reported that 23 Israeli soldiers were killed.<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/2165272.stm BBC: UN says no massacre in Jenin]</ref> In sum, roughly 75 persons were killed during the battle.
On April 8, a UN envoy, [[Terje Roed-Larsen]], said the devastation in the camp was "horrific beyond belief". He said it was "morally repugnant" that Israel had not allowed emergency workers in for 11 days to provide humanitarian relief. UN Secretary General, [[Kofi Annan]], has asked the Security Council to consider sending an armed multinational force to the region, under Chapter Seven of the UN Charter which authorizes military force to impose council decisions.<ref name="jenincamp">{{Cite news
| title = Jenin camp 'horrific beyond belief'
| work = BBC
| accessdate = 2008-09-21
| date = 2002-04-18
| url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/1937387.stm
}}</ref> [[Israeli Foreign Minister]], [[Shimon Peres]] told Annan that Israel would welcome a UN official "to clarify the facts", saying "Israel has nothing to hide regarding the operation in Jenin. Our hands are clean". On April 19, the Security Council unanimously passed a resolution to send a fact-finding mission to Jenin.<ref name="untosend">{{Cite news
| title = UN to send mission to Jenin
| work = Telegraph
| accessdate = 2008-09-21
| date = 2002-04-20
| url = http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/1391591/UN-to-send-mission-to-Jenin.html
}}</ref> Abed Rabbo said the mission was "the first step toward making Sharon stand trial before an international tribunal".<ref name=vulliamy>{{Cite news
| last = Vulliamy
| first = Ed
| coauthors = Graham Usher
| title = Israel: We have nothing to hide in Jenin probe
| work = The Guardian
| accessdate = 2008-09-21
| date = 2002-04-21
| url = http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2002/apr/21/israelandthepalestinians.unitednations
}}</ref> The fact-finding team was led by former [[Finnish President]], [[Martti Ahtisaari]]. The other two members were [[Cornelio Sommaruga]], former president of the [[International Committee of the Red Cross]], and [[Sadako Ogata]], the former UN high commissioner for refugees who was [[Japan]]'s special envoy on [[Afghanistan|Afghan]] reconstruction.<ref name="benn">{{Cite news
| last = Benn
| first = Aluf
| coauthors = Shlomo Shamir
| title = Ben-Eliezer, Peres to Annan: Israel unhappy with Jenin delegation
| work = Haaretz
| accessdate = 2008-09-21
| date = 2002-04-23
| url = http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=154678
}}</ref>


Head of the IDF Operation Branch, Major General [[Giora Eiland]], convinced Mofaz that the team would demand investigating officers and soldiers, and that it might accuse Israel of war crimes. He warned that it would pave the road to an international force. Eiland and Mofaz's position was accepted by Sharon.<ref name="harel260">Harel and Isacharoff (2004), p. 260</ref>Official Israeli sources said that Israel was surprised that the composition of the team was not discussed with them in advance, adding "We expected that the operational aspects of the fact-finding mission would be carried out by military experts". On April 22, [[Israeli Defense Minister]], [[Benjamin Ben-Eliezer]] and Peres spoke to Annan. Ben-Eliezer expressed his disappointment at the make-up of the team, and expressed his hope that the mission would not overstep its mandate. Peres asked Annan to deny reports that the mission would look into events outside the refugee camp, and that the finding would have legal validity. Annan said that the mission would only investigate what happened inside Jenin, but may have to interview residents currently outside the camp. He added that the findings would not be legally binding.<ref name=benn />
=== Fluctuations in reported deaths ===


The Israeli government was concerned about the mission, and the cabinet secretary, [[Gideon Saar]], threatened to ban the team from entering Jenin. On April 23, Sharon, decided the team was no longer acceptable. The reason given was the lack of military experts on the UN team. Israel also claimed not to have been adequately consulted. The US rebuked Sharon's decision, and a [[White House]] official said "We were the sponsors of that and we want it implemented as written. We support the initiative of the secretary general".<ref name="goldenberg">{{Cite news
Initially, reporting of casualty numbers varied widely between sources and fluctuated day to day. Notably, Palestinian initial estimates were of hundreds of casualties while Israeli officials gave estimates as high as 150 deaths. In examples cited in the time line below, figures include both civilians and armed combatants unless otherwise indicated.
| last = Goldenberg
| first = Suzanne
| title = Israel blocks UN mission to Jenin
| work = The Guardian
| accessdate = 2008-09-21
| date = 2002-04-24
| url = http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2002/apr/24/israelandthepalestinians.unitednations
}}</ref> On April 24, Annan refused to delay the mission. Ben-Eliezer said: "In the last month alone, 137 people were slaughtered by Palestinians and nearly 700 wounded. Is there any one who is investigating that?"<ref name"philps">{{Cite news
| last = Philps
| first = Alan
| title = Israel defies UN over Jenin mission
| work = Telegraph
| accessdate = 2008-09-21
| date = 2002-04-25
| url = http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/israel/1392196/Israel-defies-UN-over-Jenin-mission.html
}}</ref> On April 25, the UN agreed to postpone by two days the arrival of the team, and agreed to an Israeli request that two military officers be added to the team. Annan said the talks with Israel talks had been "very, very constructive and I'm sure we'll be able to sort out our differences".<ref name="undelays">{{Cite news
| title = U.N. delays arrival of Jenin team until Sunday
| work = CNN.com
| accessdate = 2008-09-21
| date = 2002-04-26
| url = http://archives.cnn.com/2002/WORLD/meast/04/26/un.jenin.mission/index.html
}}</ref> Peres said that a delay would give the Israeli cabinet the opportunity to discuss the mission before the team arrived. Israeli Government spokesman, Avi Pazner, said that he expected the UN mission to investigate "terrorist activity" and guarantee immunity for Israeli soldiers. [[Israel Radio]] said that Israel was also pushing for the right for both sides to review the team's report before was to be presented to Annan.<ref name="jeninmission>{{Cite news
| title = Jenin mission delayed until Sunday
| work = BBC
| accessdate = 2008-09-21
| date = 2002-04-27
| url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/1952508.stm
}}</ref> On April 28, [[Israeli Communications Minister]], [[Reuven Rivlin]], told reporters after a lengthy cabinet meeting that the UN had gone back on its agreements with Israel over the team, and so it would not be allowed to arrive. Speaking for the cabinet, he said that the composition of the team and its terms of reference made it inevitable that its report would blame Israel. The Security Council convened to discuss Israel's decision not to grant entry to the UN team.<ref name"securitycouncil>{{Cite news
| last = Benn
| first = Aluf
| title = Security Council meets after Israel denies entry to UN team
| work = Haaretz
| accessdate = 2008-09-21
| date = 2002-04-29
| url = http://news.haaretz.co.il/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=156992
}}</ref> Meanwhile, the [[AIPAC]] lobby in Washington was called to pressure Annan and [[George W. Bush]].<ref name="harel260" />


On April 30, Annan decided to disband the team,<ref name="curtius">{{Cite news
*April 2 - Jenin is cut off and the incursion begin the following day.
| last = Curtius
| first = Mary
| coauthors = William Orme
| title = Annan Urges U.N. to Drop Jenin Probe
| work = Los Angeles Times
| accessdate = 2008-09-21
| date = 2002-05-01
| url = http://articles.latimes.com/2002/may/01/world/fg-un1
}}</ref> On May 2, the team was disbanded.<ref name="rte">{{Cite news
| title = Annan disbands Jenin investigation team
| work = RTÉ News
| accessdate = 2008-09-21
| date = 2002-05-03
| url = http://www.rte.ie/news/2002/0503/mideast01.html
}}</ref> On May 4, Israel was isolated in an open debate in the Security Council. The deputy US ambassador to the UN, [[James B. Cunningham|James Cunningham]], said it was "regrettable" Israel had decided not to cooperate with the fact-finding team. [[Nasser Al-Kidwa]], the Palestinian observer to the UN, said the council failed to give Annan its full support, and that the council caved in to "blackmailing" by the Israeli Government.<ref name="israelisolated">{{Cite news
| title = Israel isolated in UN debate over Jenin mission
| work = ABC News Online
| accessdate = 2008-09-21
| date = 2002-05-04
| url = http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200205/s547690.htm
}}</ref> The General Assembly passed a resolution condemning Israel's military action in Jenin by 74 votes to four, with 54 abstentions.<ref name="watson">{{Cite news
| last = Watson
| first = Rob
| title = UN condemns Israel over Jenin
| work = BBC
| accessdate = 2008-09-21
| date = 2002-05-08
| url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/1974389.stm
}}</ref> The Bush administration supported Israel as part of a deal in which Sharon agreed to lift the siege of the [[Mukataa]] in [[Ramallah]].<ref name="harel260" />


===Report===
*April 6 - in an [[Arab League]] emergency meeting [[Nabil Shaath]], at the time a Palestinian chief negotiator, delivers a speech in which he claims the IDF soldiers were commanded to completely destroy Jenin and compares Israeli actions in the West Bank towns of Jenin and Nablus to the [[Sabra and Shatila Massacre]].<ref name=CAMERA>[http://www.camera.org/index.asp?x_article=217&x_context=7 'BACKGROUNDER: A Study in Palestinian Duplicity and Media Indifference'] by Yehuda Kraut ([[CAMERA]])<br>* April 6, 'Arabs set terms for meeting with Powell' by Deutsche Presse-Agentur <br>* April 7, 'Israel warns Lebanon, Syria they risk a new border war' by Betsy Pisik, Washington Times ([http://goliath.ecnext.com/coms2/summary_0199-1720427_ITM&referid=2090 source])</ref>
On July 31, the UN issued its report. It said the overall number of Palestinians killed was fifty-two, around half of whom may have been civilians. The report also criticized both Palestinians and Israelis for putting civilians in harm's way. Annan said the report's aim of finding out exactly what happened in Jenin had been blocked by Israel's decision to refuse access to the fact-finding team. The Israeli Foreign Ministry welcomed the findings, saying the report "clears up misconceptions" about events in the camp. An official, Daniel Taub, said the report showed that Palestinian claims of a massacre had been "nothing more than atrocity propaganda". Erekat rejected the report, saying an "Israeli massacre in Jenin's refugee camp clearly happened... and crimes against humanity also took place". A Palestinian official rejected the UN's conclusions, insisting that a massacre took place. Annan said he hoped the report would help both sides move forward, adding "I would hope that both parties will draw the right lessons from this tragic episode and take steps to end the cycle of violence which is killing innocent civilians on both sides".<ref name="unsays">{{Cite news
| title = UN says no massacre in Jenin
| work = BBC
| accessdate = 2008-09-21
| date = 2002-08-01
| url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/2165272.stm
}}</ref>


==Allegations of a massacre and war crimes==
*April 7 - [[Saeb Erekat]], a Palestinian minister and chief Palestinian negotiator is quoted in the ''[[Washington Times]]'' making the first allegation of a massacre made in a Western media publication.<ref name=CAMERA/>
The battle attracted widespread international attention due to Palestinian allegations that a massacre had been committed. On April 4, [[The Observer]] reported that Palestinians have called the incident a 'massacre', alleging that their houses were bulldozed with families still inside, that helicopters fired indiscriminately on a civilian area, and that ambulances were prevented from reaching the wounded in a calculated policy that meant they would bleed to death.<ref name="crucible">{{Cite news
::*[[NBC News]] hears from Secretary-General of the Palestinian Authority [[Abdel Rahman]] that "over 250 Palestinians killed".<ref name=CAMERA/>
| last = Beaumont
| first = Peter
| title = Ten-day ordeal in crucible of Jenin
| work = The Guardian
| accessdate = 2008-09-21
| date = 2002-04-14
| url = http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2002/apr/14/israel
}}</ref> A camp resident who worked at the Jenin hospital said: "I saw the Israelis line up five young men with their legs spread and their hands up as they faced a wall. The soldiers then sprayed them from head to toe with gunfire".<ref name="smh">{{Cite news
| issn = 0312-6315
| title = Evidence and Reality Collide in a Battle of Words
| work = Sydney Morning Herald
| accessdate = 2008-09-21
| url = http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2002/04/15/1018333482108.html?oneclick=true
}}</ref> CNN correspondent, Ben Wedeman, heard stories of bodies being loaded into trucks and driven away, and of bodies being left in the sewers and bulldozed.<ref name="conflictin">{{Cite news
| title = Conflict in the Middle East: Fierce Fighting Continues in Jenin
| work = CNN.com
| accessdate = 2008-09-21
| date = 2002-04-12
| url = http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0204/12/lt.01.html
}}</ref> Palestinian cabinet minister, [[Saeb Erekat]], accused the Israelis of trying to cover up the killing of civilians.<ref name="jerusalemsuicide">{{Cite news
| title = Jerusalem suicide bomber kills at least six
| work = The Guardian
| accessdate = 2008-09-21
| date = 2002-04-12
| url = http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2002/apr/12/israel4
}}</ref>


On April 9, Haaretz reported that Peres was privately referring to the battle as a "massacre".<ref name="perescalls">{{Cite news
*April 10 - BBC reports that Israel estimates 150 Palestinians died in Jenin but Palestinians say the number is far higher.<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/1920463.stm BBC News | MIDDLE EAST | Israeli pull-out on hold after bombing<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>
| last = Benn
::*[[Saeb Erekat]] on a phone interview to CNN from [[Jericho]], estimates 500 dead in the whole [[Operation Defensive Shield|Israeli offensive]] and states that the Jenin refuge camp no longer exists and that reports of executions are coming from there.<ref>[http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0204/10/i_ins.00.html 'CNN Transcripts: Colin Powell's Challenge' (April 10, 2002)]</ref> Israelis gave their response a short time later saying that it is a fabrication and a lie.<ref>[http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0204/10/ip.00.html 'CNN Transcripts: Another Suicide Bombing on West Bank' (April 10, 2002)]</ref>
| first = Aluf
| coauthors = Amos Harel
| title = Peres calls IDF operation in Jenin a 'massacre'
| work = Haaretz
| accessdate = 2008-09-21
| date = 2002-04-09
| url = http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=150051
}}</ref> The next day, Peres made a statement that the "The Foreign Minister expressed his concern that Palestinian propaganda is liable to accuse Israel that a 'massacre' took place in Jenin rather than a pitched battle against heavily armed terrorists".<ref name="peresfears">{{Cite news
| last = Reuters
| title = Peres fears Palestinians will distort Jenin battle
| work = Haaretz
| accessdate = 2008-09-21
| date = 2002-04-10
| url = http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=150149
}}</ref> That statement was later retracted.<ref name="sadeh" /> Haaretz editor, [[Hanoch Marmari]], later said in a lecture that "Some correspondents might have been obsessive in their determination to unearth a massacre in a refugee camp".<ref name="marmari">{{Cite news
| last = Marmari
| first = Hanoch
| title = Digging beneath the surface in the Middle East conflict
| work = Haaretz
| accessdate = 2008-09-20
| url = http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=173899&contrassID=2&subContrassID=5&sbSubContrassID=0&listSrc=Y
}}</ref> Mouin Rabbani, Director of the Palestinian American Research Center in Ramallah, cited Peres' statement and his office's decision to establish a PR committee as an indication that a massacre had taken place.<ref name="rabbani">{{Cite journal
| issue = May 2002
| last = Rabbani
| first = Mouin
| title = The Only Truth About Jenin Is the Israeli Cover-Up
| journal = Washington Report on Middle East Affairs
| accessdate = 2008-09-21
| url = http://www.washington-report.org/archives/may2002/0205006.html
}}</ref>


In early May, [[Human Rights Watch]] completed its report on Jenin. The report said there was no massacre, but did accuse the IDF of committing war crimes.<ref name="wood">{{Cite news
*April 11 - negotiated surrender of 34 Palestinian militants.[http://web.amnesty.org/library/Index/ENGMDE151432002?open&of=ENG-PSE] Palestinians are reporting 500 dead.<ref>[http://edition.cnn.com/2002/WORLD/meast/04/11/wedeman.otsc/index.html CNN: Access to Jenin difficult/Palestinians are reporting 500 dead]</ref>
| last = Wood
| first = Paul
| title = 'No Jenin massacre' says rights group
| work = BBC
| accessdate = 2008-09-21
| date = 2002-05-03
| url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/1965471.stm
}}</ref> On April 18, Derrick Pounder, a British forensic expert who was part of an [[Amnesty International]] team granted access to Jenin, said: "I must say that the evidence before us at the moment doesn't lead us to believe that the allegations are anything other than truthful and that therefore there are large numbers of civilian dead underneath these bulldozed and bombed ruins that we see".<ref name="massacreevidence" /> In November, Amnesty International reported that there was "clear evidence" that the IDF committed war crimes against Palestinian civilians, including unlawful killings and torture, in Jenin and Nablus.<ref name"rightgroup">{{Cite news
| title = Rights group accuses Israel of war crimes
| work = The Washington Post
| accessdate = 2008-09-21
| date = 2002-11-04
| url = http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2002/11/04/MN214134.DTL
}}</ref> The Observer reporter, Peter Beaumont, wrote that what happened in Jenin was not a massacre, but that the mass destruction of houses was a war crime.<ref name="beaumont">{{Cite news
| last = Beaumont
| first = Peter
| title = Not a massacre, but a brutal breach of war's rules
| work = The Guardian
| accessdate = 2008-09-21
| date = 2002-04-25
| url = http://www.guardian.co.uk/GWeekly/Story/0,,689935,00.html
}}</ref>


Harel and Isacharoff wrote that the IDF's misconduct with the media, including Kitri's statement, contributed to the allegations of massacre. Mofaz later admitted that the limitations imposed on the media were a mistake. Head of the Operations Directorate, General [[Dan Harel]], said: "Today, I would send a reporter in every APC".<ref name="harel259">Harel and Isacharoff (2004), p. 259</ref>
*April 12 - Fighting ends
::*IDF Brigadier-General Ron Kitrey said on [[Israeli Army Radio]] that there are apparently hundreds killed, the IDF quickly clarified he meant hundreds of casualties (killed or injured).<ref>[http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2002/04/12/midreu.xml News - Telegraph<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> Secretary-General of Palestinian Authority [[Ahmed Abdel Rahman]] alleged, according to United Press International as a reaction to Kitrey's initial comments, that thousands of Palestinians were either killed and buried in massive graveyards or smashed under houses destroyed in Jenin and Nablus. He claimed that the Israelis took hundreds of bodies to northern Israel to hide a massacre and added that, ''"This massacre is not less than the massacres committed against the Palestinian people in the refugee camps of Sabra and Shatila in Lebanon"''<ref>[http://newsmax.com/archives/articles/2002/4/12/163750.shtml Palestinians: Hundreds in Mass Graves<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman, Emmanuel Nahshon, said he did not believe thousands of people were killed and added that ''"in places where there are battles, people get killed"''.

*April 13 - Palestinian Information Minister, [[Yasser Abed Rabbo]], accuses Israel of digging mass graves for 900 Palestinians in the camp, half of them women and children.<ref>[http://www.sabcnews.com/world/the_middle_east/0,2172,32177,00.html Jenin refugee camp emerges defeated], [http://www.sabcnews.com sabcnews.com]</ref>
*April 14-15 - After IDF reportedly estimate 188 Palestinians were killed<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.israelinsider.com/channels/security/articles/sec_0240.htm |publisher=[[Israelinsider]]|title=Security: IDF now estimates 45 Palestinians died in Jenin fighting|accessdate=2008-06-30|date=2002-04-14|author=Shuman, Ellis and israelinsider staff }}</ref> and one spokesperson estimated the number at 250<ref>[http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2002/04/15/1018333482108.html?oneclick=true Evidence and reality collide in a battle of words - smh.com.au<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>, a final figure of 45 is given.

*April 15 - When asked by [[Wolf Blitzer]], in a [[CNN]] interview, about the accusations that the Israeli troops committed a massacre at the Jenin camp, Israeli Prime Minister [[Ariel Sharon]], replied that that while there were fierce battles in the camp, "you already know that this story is a lie" and the term 'massacre' was not applicable.<ref name="CNN15April">[http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0204/15/wbr.00.html CNN Transcripts: 'Interview With Ariel Sharon; New Osama bin Laden Video Released/Palestinian Cabinet Minister Nabil Sha'ath with a reaction']</ref>

::*Palestinian Cabinet Minister (also [[Palestinian National Authority|PA]] [[Prime Minister of the Palestinian National Authority|Acting Prime Minister]] in 2005) [[Nabil Shaath]], in a Palestinian reaction to the interview with Sharon, accused the Israeli Prime Minister for resembling [[Slobodan Milošević|Milosevic]] and claimed it is a second [[Sabra and Shatila Massacre|Sabra and Shatila]] by him. Shaath added that the actual death toll is unknown because, ''"already a lot of the bodies have been snatched and buried elsewhere in unidentified graves that we learned about during the Jenin massacre."'' and added an allegation that Sharon ''"took six days to perpetrate the massacre and six days for a cover-up."''.<ref name="CNN15April"/>

::*On this date, the first observers were allowed into the camp.<ref name="CNN15April"/><ref name=AI/>

*April 18 - Zalmon Shoval, adviser to Prime Minister Sharon, defended Israel's actions, saying it was fighting for its life; estimating that only about 65 bodies had been recovered, of which five were civilians.<ref name="BBC18Apr"/>

*April 30 - [[Qadoura Mousa]], the director of Yasser Arafat's [[Fatah]] movement for the northern [[West Bank]] set the total dead at 56 after a team of four Palestinian-appointed investigators reported to him in his Jenin office.<ref name="WashTimes0501">{{cite news
| author = Paul Martin
| title = Jenin `massacre´ reduced to death toll of 56
| url = http://www.papillonsartpalace.com/jenin.htm
| format = Reprint
| work = PAGE ONE
| publisher = The Washington Times
| page = 01
| date = 2002-05-01
| accessdate = 2007-09-17
| language = English
}}<br><small>Archived from Washington Times site; as retrieved from [http://osdir.com/ml/politics.communism.environmental/2002-05/msg00004.html][http://nucnews.net/nucnews/2002nn/0205nn/020501nn.htm#331]</small></ref>
::* Considering the Palestinian body count the [[U.N. Secretary-General]], [[Kofi Annan]], suggested that he may disband the U.N. fact-finding team supposed to determine whether a massacre had taken place.

=== Allegations of a massacre ===

The battle attracted widespread international attention due to Palestinian allegations that a [[Wiktionary:massacre|massacre]] had been committed and due to inflated reports on body counts by Palestinian officials and Jenin residents.<ref name="tele-daud">[http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2002/04/13/wmid213.xml 'Hundreds of victims 'were buried by bulldozer in mass grave'/Daud, a claimed witness, testifies.' (Telegraph.co.uk)]</ref> Journalists and international groups were banned by the IDF from entering the camp during the fighting on safety grounds, and at one point the IDF itself reported casualties as high as 250,<ref name=CNNPowell>[http://archives.cnn.com/2002/WORLD/meast/04/12/mideast.diplomacy/index.html CNN.com - Powell postpones meeting with Arafat, April 12, 2002]: "Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erakat said earlier this week that 500 Palestinians had been killed in Jenin and Nablus alone", "'A real massacre was committed in the Jenin refugee camp,' Erakat said"</ref><ref name="Crucible"/>
<ref>[http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2002/04/15/1018333482108.html?oneclick=true Sydney Morning Herald: Evidence and reality collide in a battle of words (16 April 2002)]: "First the Israelis talked of scores and then there were dozens. Early yesterday an IDF spokesman said the figure was likely to be "several hundred" dead Palestinians and 23 dead Israelis. Another spokesman put the estimate at a precise 250 Palestinians dead, but by last night the IDF count of dead Palestinians had been wound back significantly to 45."</ref><ref>[https://ssl.tnr.com/p/docsub.mhtml?i=w050801&s=dallal080505 The New Republic Online: Bad Information, the Lesson of Jenin, by Jacob Dallal]: "Worse still, the IDF was releasing what turned out to be erroneous, highly inflated estimates of Palestinian casualties ... guessed at by field commanders based on the intensity of the fighting. While our office was saying around 150 Palestinians were killed, I heard very senior generals say up to 200, and the press quoted defense officials with numbers ranging as high as 250. These estimates made the Palestinian claims of 500 dead seem reasonable."<br><small>Archived from The New Republic: as retrieved from [http://www.seconddraft.org/article_pr.php?id=92]</small></ref><ref>[http://www.guardian.co.uk/israel/Story/0,2763,683340,00.html Guardian Unlimited: Jerusalem suicide bomber kills at least six (12 April 2002)]: "The [Israeli] army's chief spokesman, Brigadier General Ron Kitrey, told Army Radio that there were 'apparently hundreds of dead' ...
But the Israel defence forces later issued a statement that it 'wished to clarify that comments made this morning regarding Jenin refer to casualties - those killed and wounded'."</ref> yet many journalists reported that a [[Wiktionary:massacre|massacre]] of Palestinian civilians may have taken place during the fighting,<ref>[http://edition.cnn.com/2002/WORLD/meast/04/11/wedeman.otsc/index.html CNN: Access to Jenin difficult/Palestinians are reporting 500 dead]</ref><ref name="azure"/><ref name="BBC18Apr">[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/1937048.stm Jenin 'massacre evidence growing' 18 April, 2002 (BBC)]</ref> and unconfirmed "eyewitness" claims that hundreds, or even thousands, of bodies had been secretly buried in [[mass grave]]s by the IDF were spread.<ref name="azure"/><ref>[http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0204/12/lt.01.html CNN Transcripts: Fierce Fighting Continues in Jenin/Stories of mass graves]</ref><ref name="csmon1">[http://www.csmonitor.com/2002/0417/p01s05-wome.html 'Arabs seize 'Jenin' as rallying cry' by Philip Smucker, April 17, 2002 (Christian Science Monitor)]</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Evidence and reality collide in a battle of words/43-year-old Muiassar Abu Ali interview|publisher=[[Sydney Morning Herald]]|date=2002-04-16||url=http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2002/04/15/1018333482108.html?oneclick=true}}</ref><ref name="tele-daud"/> These allegations were aired widely in the [[Arab world]] and [[Europe]]an media (most prominently in the [[Media in the United Kingdom|British media]]), inciting extreme antipathy toward Israel.<ref name="azure"/><ref name="csmon1"/> Critics in conservative American publications responded by alleging a "Big Jenin Lie".<ref>[http://www.nationalreview.com/comment/comment-gross051302.asp 'Jeningrad - What the British Media said' by Tom Gross (nationalreview.com)]</ref><ref>[http://www.jfednepa.org/mark%20silverberg/middleeastmedia.html 'Middle East Media Distortion - British/European Media Bias and Jenin' by Mark Silverberg June 20, 2002 (jfednepa.org)]</ref>

According to the [[Anti-Defamation League]], International organizations, non-governmental organizations, and many foreign governments prematurely attacked Israel for committing atrocities during its military operations and before the facts were in. But while a massacre of hundreds was alleged, reported and condemned, the ADL claims that it is now essentially certain that no such massacre occurred.<ref>http://www.adl.org/Israel/jenin/jenin.pdf (page 38)</ref>

Many Arabs and Palestinians continue to use the term "Jenin Massacre" ({{lang-ar|مجزرة جنين}}).

; Amnesty International
In an interview with ''[[BBC News]]'', Derek Holley, a military advisor to Amnesty International, corroborated that there was no massacre:
<blockquote>"Talking to people and talking to witnesses, even very credible witnesses, it just appears there was no wholesale killing."<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/1957862.stm "Expert weighs up Jenin 'massacre'"], ''[[BBC News]]'', [[April 29]], [[2002]]. Accessed [[July 24]], [[2008]].</ref></blockquote>

; Human Rights Watch
[[Human Rights Watch]] found no evidence of a massacre and criticized Palestinian militants for having endangered the lives of Palestinian civilians in part by "intermingling" with them, but added:
<blockquote>"However, many of the civilian deaths documented by Human Rights Watch amounted to unlawful or willful killings by the IDF. Many others could have been avoided if the IDF had taken proper precautions to protect civilian life during its military operation, as required by international humanitarian law."</blockquote>

; Time Magazine
In an article about the battle in Jenin, ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'' ruled out Palestinian allegations of massacre, writing that <ref name=Time/>:
<blockquote>"A Time investigation concludes that there was no wanton massacre in Jenin, no deliberate slaughter of Palestinians by Israeli soldiers. But the 12 days of fighting took a severe toll on the camp."</blockquote>

; United Nations
The UN report confirmed a body count of 52 Palestinians, up to half of them civilians, and found earlier claims of hundreds of deaths to be unsubstantiated. These findings were widely reported and interpreted as rejecting claims of a "massacre." <ref>{{cite news| title=UN says no massacre in Jenin| url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/2165272.stm| publisher=[[BBC]]| date=2002-08-01}}</ref><ref>{{cite news| title=U.N. report: No massacre in Jenin| url=http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2002-08-01-unreport-jenin_x.htm| publisher=[[USA Today]]| date=2002-08-01}}</ref><ref>{{cite news| title= DEATH ON THE CAMPUS: JENIN; U.N. Report Rejects Claims Of a Massacre Of Refugees| url=http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9D04E6DD1E3BF931A3575BC0A9649C8B63| publisher=[[New York Times]]| date=2002-08-02}}</ref><ref name=UN/>.

; U.S. Secretary of State
[[United States Secretary of State|U.S. Secretary of State]] [[Colin Powell]] visited Jenin during the month of the battle, and upon returning to the States testified to a congressional panel that there was no evidence of mass graves or a massacre.<ref>[http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0204/25/ltm.14.html Colin US Secretary of State Powell: I've seen no evidence that would suggest a massacre took place.]</ref>

== International statements and human rights reports ==
In late April and on [[May 3]], [[2002]], the UN, [[Amnesty International]] and [[Human Rights Watch]] released reports about the Israeli military incursions into Jenin. The reports documented that approximately 30 Palestinian militants, 22 Palestinian civilians, and 23 Israeli soldiers were killed in the fighting and thus found no evidence to sustain claims that a massacre took place. However, HRW did say that Israel "committed serious violations of [[international humanitarian law]], some amounting [[prima facie]] to war crimes,"<ref>[http://hrw.org/reports/2002/israel3/israel0502-01.htm#P49_1774 Jenin: IDF Military Operations<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> while [[Amnesty International]] similarly alleged evidence that Israel had committed war crimes.

The [[Anti-Defamation League]] questioned how HRW and AI could both acknowledge the lack of a supposed Israeli massacre and the endangerment of Palestinian civilians by Palestinian gunmen and still maintain its accusation of Israel, and labelled the reports prejudiced.<ref>[http://www.adl.org/Israel/jenin/ Anatomy of Anti-Israel Incitement: Jenin],''Anti-Defamation League''</ref>
=== United Nations efforts ===

The United Nations attempted an unsuccessful visiting mission, disbanded a fact finding mission, and ultimately issued a report based on its limited findings.

The United Nations visiting mission ordered by the [[UN Commission on Human Rights]] on 5 April 2002 and headed by [[Mary Robinson]], ex-President of [[Ireland]] and [[UN High Commissioner for Human Rights]] was refused entry to Israel. A similar fate awaited the UN fact finding mission:

==== UN fact finding mission ====
The United Nations Security Council unanimously proposed a fact finding mission with resolution 1405 on [[April 19]], [[2002]].

While formally agreeing to co-operate with the inquiry, the government of Israel set a list of preconditions, three being most important to them:
* That the mission should include anti-terrorism experts. Derek Holley, an Amnesty International military advisor went public saying that this was necessary in a report posted by the BBC.<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/1957862.stm Expert weighs up Jenin 'massacre']</ref>
* That the UN agree not to prosecute Israeli soldiers for any violations of [[international law]] which might be uncovered during by the mission.
* And that the mission limit its scope exclusively to events in Jenin.
These conditions were justified by the Israeli government's legal experts{{Who|date=July 2007}} on the grounds that "the conditions under which the UN proposed the mission were unfair, as the UN did not agree to give the anti-terrorism expert full membership, would not give the mission a strict mandate, nor declare the mission solely investigatory (as opposed to having a judicial purpose)". According to the Israeli legal experts, all three positions violate of the UN's own principles (as stated in the "Declaration on Fact-finding by the United Nations", A/RES/46/59 of [[December 9]], [[1991]]).

The UN refused to accept the last two conditions, whereupon the Israeli authorities announced that they would not allow the mission entry into any Israeli-controlled territory, nor cooperate with its activities in any way. Some commentators ascribed this to an agreement with Bush, who on 18th April told the world's press that Sharon "gave me a timetable and he’s met the timetable."<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/1937387.stm - Jenin camp 'horrific beyond belief']. Retrieved 9th August 2007.</ref>

On the [[May 3]] [[2002]], UN Secretary General [[Kofi Anan]] announced that he was disbanding the fact-finding mission.

On the [[May 7]] [[2002]], the UN General Assembly passed<ref>http://daccessdds.un.org/doc/UNDOC/GEN/N02/377/00/PDF/N0237700.pdf?OpenElement .resolution ES-10/10</ref>, condemning both the Israeli operations and Israel's refusal to cooperate with the fact-finding team. At the same time, the UN issued a press release<ref>[http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs/2002/GA10015.doc.htm General Assembly Condemns Assaults Against Palestinians By Israeli Occupying Forces, Refusal To Cooperate With Fact-Finding Team<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> repeating the points made and including statements made by the representatives of individual nations. The GA requested the Secretary-General to present a report, drawing upon available resources and information.

==== UN report ====
The UN report stated that fifty-two Palestinian deaths had been confirmed by the end of May 2002, which mirrored the IDF report, and found earlier claims of hundreds of deaths to be unsubstantiated. These findings were widely reported and interpreted as rejecting claims of a "massacre."<ref>{{cite news| title=UN says no massacre in Jenin| url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/2165272.stm| publisher=[[BBC]]| date=2002-08-01}}</ref><ref>{{cite news| title=U.N. report: No massacre in Jenin| url=http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2002-08-01-unreport-jenin_x.htm| publisher=[[USA Today]]| date=2002-08-01}}</ref><ref>{{cite news| title= DEATH ON THE CAMPUS: JENIN; U.N. Report Rejects Claims Of a Massacre Of Refugees| url=http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9D04E6DD1E3BF931A3575BC0A9649C8B63| publisher=[[New York Times]]| date=2002-08-02}}</ref><ref name=UN/>.

The report explains the rising violence of the first two years of the [[al-Aqsa Intifada]], with particular reference to the suicide bombings that had been carried out. It describes all the operations carried out in the West Bank.

On the subject of Jenin, it says the ''"IDF urged civilians in Arabic to evacuate the camp. Some reports, including of interviews with IDF soldiers, suggest that those warnings were not adequate ..... Estimates vary on how many civilians remained in the camp throughout but there may have been as many as 4,000."''

The UN report confirmed that "at least 52 Palestinians" deaths were reported by the Jenin hospital by the end of May 2002 and that Palestinian reports of 500 dead had not been substantiated.

Following the ambush of April 9 the IDF changed tactics and began bombardment with tanks and missiles, and demolished parts of the camp using armoured bulldozers. The report says ''"Witness testimonies and human rights investigations allege that the destruction was both disproportionate and indiscriminate, some houses coming under attack from the bulldozers before their inhabitants had the opportunity to evacuate."''

According to the report, supplies of food and water were delivered to the camp starting on April 16th but this was impeded by the large amounts of explosives present. Negotiations began to bring in specialist equipment and workers to remove the explosives, but in the several weeks it took to negotiate the entry of these teams, at least two Palestinians were killed in explosions.

===== Criticism of the UN report =====
[[Human Rights Watch]] criticized the UN investigation for presenting a "watered-down account of the very serious violations in Jenin," for presenting "competing" claims while drawing "almost no conclusions on the merits of those claims," and for failing to address the "issue of accountability for serious violations that may have been committed, some of which rise to the level of war crimes".<ref>[http://hrw.org/english/docs/2002/08/02/isrlpa4185.htm "U.N. Jenin Report."] Human Rights Watch. New York: August 2, 2002.</ref>

[[Human Rights Watch]] also criticized the report as being "flawed" due to a lack of first-hand evidence.<ref>[http://www.hrw.org/press/2002/08/jenin080202.htm U.N. Jenin Report (Human Rights Watch, 2-8-2002)<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> The report itself states that a fact-finding team led by [[Martti Ahtisaari]] was unable to visit the area as planned due to concerns of the Israeli government, which meant that the report had to rely on papers submitted by different nations and NGOs, and other documents. <ref name="UN" />

=== Human Rights Watch report ===
{{seealso|Criticism of Human Rights Watch#Battle of Jenin}}
While the [[Human Rights Watch]] report found "no evidence to sustain claims of massacres or large-scale extrajudicial executions by the IDF," it documented instances of unlawful or willful killing by the IDF, some of which could have been avoided if proper procedures were followed, as well as instances of summary executions. It also documented use of Palestinians as '[[human shields]]', by the IDF, and prevention of humanitarian organizations from accessing the camp despite the great need. The report concluded: <blockquote>Israeli forces committed serious violations of [[international humanitarian law]], some amounting [[prima facie]] to war crimes. Human Rights Watch found no evidence to sustain claims of massacres or large-scale extrajudicial executions by the IDF in Jenin refugee camp. Ultimately, Human Rights Watch verified the deaths of at least 52 Palestinians, of whom it concluded that at least 27 were suspected to be armed combatants, and at least 22 were civilians.<ref>[http://hrw.org/reports/2002/israel3/israel0502-01.htm#P49_1774 Jenin: IDF Military Operations<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref></blockquote>

While focusing mainly on the actions of the IDF, the report also stated that: <blockquote>Palestinian gunmen did endanger Palestinian civilians in the camp by using it as a base for planning and launching attacks, using indiscriminate tactics such as planting improvised explosive devices within the camp, and intermingling with the civilian population during armed conflict, and, in some cases, to avoid apprehension by Israeli forces.</blockquote>

The report notes that: <blockquote>The presence of armed Palestinian militants inside Jenin refugee camp, and the preparations made by those armed Palestinian militants in anticipation of the IDF incursion, does not detract from the IDF's obligation under international humanitarian law to take all feasible precautions to avoid harm to civilians ... Unfortunately, these obligations were not met.</blockquote>

===Amnesty International===
Amnesty International's report on Jenin and Nablus was issued on [[November 4]], [[2002]]. While the Amnesty report did not allege that a massacre had occurred, the report asserts that war crimes were committed by Israel. Specifically, the reports states that unlawful killings occurred; there was a failure to ensure medical or humanitarian relief; demolition of houses and property occurred; water and electricity supplies to civilians were cut; torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment in arbitrary detention occurred; and Palestinians civilians were used for military operations or as "human shields."<ref>[http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2002/11/04/MN214134.DTL "Rights group accuses Israel of war crimes"], ''[[San Francisco Chronicle]]'', via [[The Washington Post]]'', [[November 4]], [[2002]]. Accessed [[August 3]]], [[2008]].</ref>

In addition, the Amnesty report charges that some civilians were not warned before their houses were demolished and hence they were buried in the rubble. Israel strongly denies these charges. The IDF claims that it broadcast calls to evacuate, but many residents said that they had not heard or understood the call.

Amnesty International acknowledged Israel's "right and responsibility to take measures to prevent unlawful violence," while reiterating its obligations to comply with international humanitarian law in doing so.

Amnesty research included reviewing Israeli High Court cases and examining medical records, statements, and video documentation. Delegates conducted numerous interviews. Testimony and other evidence were cross-checked for accuracy. In many cases, Israel did not cooperate with Amnesty, and did not respond to inquiries about fighting in Jenin. Amnesty also says that much of the destruction took place after [[April 11]], [[2002]], the date it argues combat died down.<ref name=AI/>


==See also==
==See also==
* ''[[Jenin, Jenin]]''
* ''[[Jenin, Jenin]]''
* [[Media coverage of the Arab-Israeli conflict]]
* [[Pallywood]]
* [[Urban warfare]]
* [[Violence in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict 2002]]

{{Israeli-Palestinian conflict}}


==References==
==References==
{{reflist|2}}
{{reflist|2}}


==External links==
==Bibliography==
*{{Cite book
{{linkfarm}}
| publisher = Yedioth Aharonoth Books and Chemed Books
=== UN, international, human rights, PA and IDF reports ===
| isbn = 9655117677
* [http://www.un.org/peace/jenin/index.html UN Report of the Secretary-General] With submissions of PA (3 June), Qatar/Al-Jazeera (31 May), Jordan (2 July) and EU (7 June). Also [http://www.un.org/peace/jenin/index.html UN Press Release 1st Aug].
| pages = 431
* [http://web.amnesty.org/library/Index/engMDE151432002 Amnesty report, Nov 2002.] "Israel and the Occupied Territories Shielded from scrutiny: IDF violations in Jenin and Nablus".
| last = Harel
* [http://www.hrw.org/reports/2002/israel3/ Human Rights Watch Report] Jenin: IDF Military Operations (May 2002), the report in [http://hrw.org/reports/2002/israel3/israel0502.pdf PDF], also HRW statement: [http://www.hrw.org/press/2002/05/jenin0503.htm "Jenin War Crimes Investigation Needed"] (3 May).
| first = Amos
* [http://www.jenininquiry.org/Jenin%20Inquiry%20Report.pdf The Jenin Inquiry], a group of 12 internationals from the US, Britain, Ireland, Canada, and Norway. More bodies found in August.
| coauthors = Avi Isacharoff
* [http://mfa.gov.il/MFA/Government/Communiques/2002/Response+to+Amnesty+International-s+Report+-+Killi.htm IDF Response to Amnesty Report] Killing the Future - Children in the Line of Fire - Oct 1- 2002.
| title = The Seventh War
* [http://www.mfa.gov.il/mfa/mfaarchive/2000_2009/2002/3/operation%20defensive%20shield Israeli Foreign Ministry on Operation Defensive Shield]: Special Update March 29, 2002 - April 21, 2002.
| location = Tel-Aviv
* [http://www.tau.ac.il/jcss/memoranda/memo63.pdf The Battle of Jenin: A Case Study in Israel's Communications Strategy] The Jaffee Center for Strategic Studies, Dec 2002.
| date = 2004
* [http://www.middle-east-info.org/gateway/palestinianterrorregime/jeninreportiacexec.pdf EXECUTIVE SUMMARY OF IAC PRESENTATION]: "JENIN AND OTHER PALESTINIAN CITIES: OPERATION DEFENSIVE SHIELD".
}} {{he icon}}

*{{Cite book
=== Press reports, opinions and articles about Jenin battle ===
| publisher = Vintage
* [http://www.adl.org/Israel/jenin/jenin.pdf Anatomy of Anti-Israel Incitement: Jenin, World Opinion and the Massacre That Wasn't], [[Anti-Defamation League]] report, June 2002.
| isbn = 1400079632
* [http://www.azure.org.il/magazine/magazine.asp?id=216 Urban Warfare and the Lessons of Jenin], analysis in Azure magazine.
| pages = 560
* [http://www.hartford-hwp.com/archives/51a/038.html Amid the ruins of Jenin, the grisley evidence of a war crime] ''[[The Independent]]''
| last = Herzog
* [http://www.aish.com/jewishissues/mediaobjectivity/UN_Report_on_Jenin.asp The media tries to mop up its horrific coverage of Jenin.] [[Honest Reporting]]
| first = Chaim
* [http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/001/218vnicq.asp The Weekly Standard - The Big Jenin Lie]
| coauthors = Shlomo Gazit
* [http://www.time.com/time/2002/jenin/story.html TIME magazine writeup on Jenin]
| title = The Arab-Israeli Wars: War and Peace in the Middle East
* [http://www.camera.org/index.asp?x_article=217&x_context=7 A Study in Palestinian Duplicity and Media Indifference] Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting
| date = 2005
* [http://www.pierrerehov.com/jenin.htm The Road to Jenin - A documentary by Pierre Rehov]
}}
* Jenin War Diary of a Hasidic Soldier - [[April 25]], [[2002]] - Sergeant Major Rami Meir
===Further reading===
** [http://www.chabad.org/library/article.asp?AID=43045 Part I], [http://www.chabad.org/library/article.asp?AID=43101 Part II].
*{{cite book
* [http://archives.cnn.com/2002/WORLD/meast/04/22/jenin.fighter/index.html "Palestinian fighter describes 'hard fight' in Jenin. Says he didn't see large numbers killed"], [[CNN]] interview with [[Palestinian Islamic Jihad]] militant Tabaat Mardawi ([[April 23]], [[2002]])
* [http://www.likud.nl/govern71.html The Truth about Jenin - Testimony of General Eyal Shlein, IDF Spokesperson, April 12, 2002]
* [http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/ED09Ak04.html Asia Times: A street fight called Jeningrad by Paul Belden]
*[http://www.gush-shalom.org/archives/kurdi_eng.html The story of D9 bulldozer driver from Yediot Ahronot with Gush Shalom comments]
* [http://www.zmag.org/content/showarticle.cfm?SectionID=22&ItemID=2187 Palestinian view of UN report]

'''Articles from [[The Observer]] and [[The Guardian]]'''
* [http://observer.guardian.co.uk/worldview/story/0,11581,684251,00.html Ten-day ordeal in crucible of Jenin], Peter Beaumont ([[April 14]], [[2002]])
* [http://www.guardian.co.uk/israel/Story/0,2763,685133,00.html The lunar landscape that was the Jenin refugee camp], Suzanne Goldenberg ([[April 16]], [[2002]])
* [http://www.guardian.co.uk/israel/Story/0,2763,687656,00.html 'We fight like girls and we are accused of a massacre'], Ewen MacAskill ([[April 20]], [[2002]])
* [http://www.guardian.co.uk/elsewhere/journalist/story/0,7792,689398,00.html Battle for truth in Jenin], Bryan Whitaker ([[April 23]], [[2002]])
* [http://www.guardian.co.uk/israel/Story/0,2763,688959,00.html Israel accused over Jenin assault], Chris McGreal in Jerusalem and Brian Whitaker ([[April 23]], [[2002]])
* [http://www.guardian.co.uk/GWeekly/Story/0,,689935,00.html Not a massacre, but a brutal breach of war's rules], Peter Beaumont in Jenin ([[April 25]], [[2002]])

'''Articles from the [[BBC]]'''
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/1935195.stm Forensic expert barred from Jenin] ([[17 April]] [[2002]])
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/1937387.stm Jenin camp 'horrific beyond belief'] ([[18 April]] [[2002]])
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/1937048.stm Jenin 'massacre evidence growing'] ([[18 April]] [[2002]])
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/1957862.stm Expert weighs up Jenin 'massacre'] ([[29 April]] [[2002]])
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/1965471.stm 'No Jenin massacre' says rights group] ([[3 May]] [[2002]])
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/1974389.stm UN condemns Israel over Jenin] ([[8 May]] [[2002]])

'''Articles from [[Ha'aretz]]'''
* [http://www.haaretz.co.il/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=147936 Palestinians: IDF tanks enter Nablus; reservist killed in Jenin] ([[4 April]] [[2002]])
* [http://66.102.9.104/search?q=cache:DclBJEK8zxgJ:www.haaretzdaily.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml%3FitemNo%3D150051+&hl=en&gl=uk&ct=clnk&cd=1 Peres calls IDF operation in Jenin a 'massacre'] ([[9 April]] [[2002]])
* [http://www.haaretz.co.il/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=151643 Court: IDF can't move bodies; Lieberman: Barak must be ousted] ([[13 April]] [[2002]])
* [http://www.haaretz.co.il/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=151948 Court rejects petitions demanding IDF not remove Jenin dead] ([[14 April]] [[2002]])
* [http://www.haaretz.co.il/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=151227 IDF bulldozers buried Jenin dead, Palestinians claim]
* [http://www.haaretz.co.il/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=152568 Court told: IDF leaving dead to rot in Jenin]
* [http://news.haaretz.co.il/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=156992 Security Council meets after Israel denies entry to UN team] ([[29 April]] [[2002]])
* [http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=350272 Ticking bomb]

=== Published personal accounts ===
The books below present contrasting Israeli and Arab views of the battle.
Each is a collection of personal anecdotes, based on the authors' interviews with eyewitnesses / participants:

'''Israeli Accounts'''
* {{cite book
| last = Goldberg
| last = Goldberg
| first = Brett
| first = Brett
| authorlink = Brett Goldberg
| title = A Psalm in Jenin
| title = A Psalm in Jenin
| publisher = Modan Publishing House [http://www.modan.co.il/]
| publisher = Modan Publishing House
| date = 2003
| date = 2003
| location = Israel
| location = Israel
| pages = 304
| pages = 304
| isbn = 965-7141-03-6
| isbn = 965-7141-03-6 }} is a sketch of the experiences of several Israeli soldiers who participated in the battle (either as combatants or auxiliaries such as field medics), based on their accounts and/or accounts of families and friends, in the case of soldiers who fell in the battle.
}}

*{{cite book
'''Arab Accounts'''
* {{cite book
| last = Baroud
| last = Baroud
| first = Ramzy Mohammed, editor
| first = Ramzy Mohammed, editor
| authorlink = Ramzy Baroud
| title = Searching Jenin: Eyewitness Accounts of the Israeli Invasion 2002
| title = Searching Jenin: Eyewitness Accounts of the Israeli Invasion 2002
| publisher = Cune Press
| publisher = Cune Press
| date = January, 2003
| date = 2003
| location = Seattle, Washington
| location = Seattle, Washington
| pages = 256
| pages = 256
| isbn = 1885942346
| url = http://www.cunepress.net/Book/?GCOI=88594100573750
}}
| isbn = 1885942346 }} is a series of interviews with Arab children and adults who either hid during the battle, or who worked during the battle (such as a Red Crescent ambulance driver,) and describe what they saw and felt. None of the interviewees admit to having fought in the battle.


==External links==
=== Related issues to Jenin battle ===
*{{Cite conference
* Jenin - center of [[Terrorism]]
| publisher = United Nations
** [http://www.ict.org.il/articles/articledet.cfm?articleid=441 "Jenin Al Kassam" A Hothouse of Terrorism]
| title = Report of the Secretary-General on Jenin
** [http://www.idf.il/english/news/jenin.stm Israel Defense Forces' briefing on terrorist activity in Jenin]
| accessdate = 2008-09-22
** [http://www.mfa.gov.il/mfa/go.asp?MFAH0llu0 List of suicide bombings originating in Jenin]
| date = 2002-06-07
* Photos of fake funeral in Jenin
| url = http://www.un.org/peace/jenin/index.html
** [http://www.idf.il/english/news/funeral.stm Israel Defense Forces' footage of the fake burial in Jenin] (original link, not working)
}}
** [http://www.israelinsider.com/channels/diplomacy/articles/dip_0204.htm# Israel Defense Forces' footage of the fake burial in Jenin] (reprint + video)
*{{Cite conference
* [http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/myths/mf19.html#q1 MYTH & FACT of Jenin "massacre"]
| publisher = Amnesty International
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zTX3CZqDyOA ''60 Minutes'': Pallywood]
| title = Israel and the Occupied Territories: Shielded from scrutiny: IDF violations in Jenin and Nablus
* Muhammed Bakri's film ''[[Jenin Jenin]]''
| accessdate = 2008-09-21
* [http://www.pierrerehov.com/jenin.htm ''The Road to Jenin''] Film by Pierre Rehov, intended in part to expose alleged "propaganda and misinformation spread by Bakri".
| date = 2002-11-04
* [http://www.imemc.org/article/47522 IMEMC:Jenin child tells the story of how soldiers killed his father in 2002]
| url = http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/info/MDE15/143/2002
}}
*{{Cite journal
| volume = 14, No. 3 (E)
| issue = May 2002
| title = Jenin: IDF Military Operations
| journal = Human Rights Watch
| accessdate = 2008-09-21
| url = http://hrw.org/reports/2002/israel3/index.htm#TopOfPage
}}


{{Israeli-Palestinian Conflict}}
{{Israeli-Palestinian Conflict}}

Revision as of 11:13, 30 September 2008

Battle of Jenin
Part of Operation Defensive Shield

A Caterpillar D9L armored bulldozer used by the IDF during the battle.
Location
Jenin, West Bank
Result Israeli victory
Belligerents
 Israel State of Palestine Fatah (Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, Tanzim)
Hamas
Islamic Jihad
Commanders and leaders
Yehuda Yedidia
Eyal Shlein
Ofek Buchris		 Hazem Qabha
Zakaria Zubeidi
Mahmoud Tawallbe †
Strength
1 reserve infantry brigade
2 regular infantry battalions
Commando teams[1]		 Several hundreds[1]
Casualties and losses
23 dead
52 wounded[1]		 53 dead (5 civilians according to IDF; at least 27 militants and 22 civilians according to HRW[2])
Hundreds wounded
200 captured[1]
Dozens of houses[1]

The Battle of Jenin took place from April 3 to April 11, 2002 in the refugee camp of Jenin, in the West Bank. It was fought between the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and Palestinian forces as part of Operation Defensive Shield, during the Second Intifada.

As part of the operation, which involved invasions of cities and towns all over the West Bank, Israel targeted Jenin's refugee camp, after it determined that the city had "served as a launch site for numerous terrorist attacks against both Israeli civilians and Israeli towns and villages in the area",[3] including the dispatch of 28 suicide bombers since the start of the Second Intifada.[4]

The IDF denied entry to journalists and human rights organizations, leading to a rapid cycle of rumors that a massacre had occurred. Jenin remained sealed for days after the invasion. Stories of civilians being buried alive in their homes as they were demolished, and of smoldering buildings covering crushed bodies, spread throughout the Arab world. Various casualty figures circulated, reaching into the mid-hundreds. Palestinian sources described the events as "the Jenin massacre", and international media and human rights organizations expressed concerns that a massacre had taken place.

Subsequent Israeli investigations found no evidence to substantiate these charges; however, international human rights organizations such as Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International alleged that war crimes had occurred.

Prelude

Jenin

Several hundred armed men from the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, Tanzim, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, and Hamas had been using the Jenin refugee camp as a base, known as "the martyrs' capital",[4] and of the 100 suicide bombers who had launched terrorist attacks since the Second Intifada began in October 2000, 28 attacks had been launched from there. One of the key planners of attacks was Mahmoud Tawalbe, Palestinian Islamic Jihad commander of the camp.[2]

File:City of Jenin and refugee camp.jpg
Aerial image of the city of Jenin (Jenin refugee camp marked in a square), prior to the battle.

Unlike other camps, the organizations in Jenin had a joint commander. Hazem Ahmad Rayhan Qabha, known as "Abu Jandal", an officer in the Palestinian National and Islamic Forces who had fought in Lebanon and served in the Iraqi Army. He was also involved in several encounters with the IDF. He set up a war room and divided the camp into fifteen sub-sectors, deploying about twenty armed men in each.[5] During the battle, he began calling himself "The Martyr Abu Jandal".[6]

Limited Israeli forces had entered the camp along a single route twice in the previous month; they had encountered heavy resistance and quickly departed. Since the previous Israeli withdrawal, Palestinian militants had prepared by boobytrapping both the town and camp's streets in a bid to trap the Israeli soldiers,[7] some of them as large as 113 kilograms (250 pounds).[2] Islamic Jihad activist Tabaat Mardawi later said that Palestinian fighters had spread "between 1000 and 2000 bombs and booby traps" throughout the camp.[8] "Omar the Engineer", a Palestinian bombmaker later claimed that some 50 homes were booby trapped, saying "We chose old and empty buildings and the houses of men who were wanted by Israel because we knew the soldiers would search for them".[7]

Israel

The Israeli command decided to this time send in three thrusts comprised mainly of the reservist 5th Infantry Brigade from the town of Jenin to the north, as well as a company of the Nahal Brigade from the southeast and Battalion 51 of the Golani Brigade from the southwest. The force of 1,000 troops also included elements of the Shayetet 13 and Duvdevan Unit special forces, the Armoured Corps, and Combat Engineers with armored bulldozer for neutralizing the roadside bombs that would line the alleys of the camp according to Military Intelligence. Anticipating the heaviest resistance in Nablus, IDF commanders sent two regular infantry brigades there, assuming they could take over the Jenin camp in 48-72 hours with just the one reservist brigade. The force's entry was delayed until April 2 due to rain.[2] The 5th Infantry Brigade did not have any experience in Close Quarters Combat and did not have a commander when Operation Defensive Shield started, since the last commander's service ended a few days earlier. His substitute was a reserve officer, Lieutenant Colonel Yehuda Yedidia, who got his rank after the operation began. His soldiers were not trained for urban fighting.[9] In March, after an IDF action in Ramallah, the television broadcast footage whcih was considered unflattering. As a result, the IDF high command decided not to allow reporters to join the forces.[10]

The battle

A Caterpillar D9L armored bulldozer used by the IDF during the battle.

Israeli forces entered on 2 April, five days after the invasion of Ramallah. On the first day, reserve company commander Moshe Gerstner was killed in a PIJ sector. This caused a further delay.[11] Jenin was secured by the second day. A Caterpillar D-9 bulldozer drove along a three-quarter-mile stretch of the main street to clear booby traps. An Israeli Engineering Corps officer logged 124 separate explosions set off by the bulldozer. A Fatah leader in the camp later said that it was only when his forces saw the Israelis advancing on foot that they decided to stay and fight.[2]

By the third day, the Palestinians were still dug in, and seven Israeli soldiers had been killed. Mardawi later testified to having killed two of them from close range, using an M-16. IDF chief of staff (Ramatkal) Shaul Mofaz urged the officers to speed things up. They asked for twenty-four more hours. Mofaz told reporters that the fighting would be complete by the end of the week, April 6. In some of the sectors, the forces were advancing at a rate of fifty meters a day.[12]

The Israeli Intelligence assumed that the vast majority of the camp's residents were still in it. Most commanders argued that this obliged a careful advance for fear of striking civilians, and warned that using excessive force would cost the lives of hundreds of Palestinians. Lieutenant Colonel Ofek Buchris, commander of the 51st Battalion, was left in a minority opinion, saying "We're being humiliated here for four days now". When Mofaz instructed the officers to be more aggressive and fire five antitank missiles at every house before entering, one of them contemplated disobedience.[12]

IDF Achzarit.

Buchris stuck to an aggressive warfare of softening antitank fire and extensive use of bulldozers. In his sector, a method for guaranteeing lower risk to the soldiers was developed: A bulldozer rams the corner of a house, opening a hole. Then, an Achzarit arrives and disembarks troops into the house.[12] Buchris' battalion was advancing faster than the reserve forces, creating a bridgehead within the camp, which attracted most of the Palestinian fire. During the first week of fighting, the battalion suffered five casualties. On April 8, Golani Brigade commander, Colonel Tamir, arrived from Nablus. Having crawled with Buchris to the front line, he warned that the fighting style must be changed completely - call in more troops and perhaps take the command out of the reserve brigade's hand. By evening, division commander, Brigadier General Eyal Shlein told his men that the mission must be accomplished by 6:00 PM on April 9.[13] Buchris himself was later badly wounded.[14] Template:He icon

As the IDF advanced, the Palestinians fell back to the heavily defended camp center - the Hawashin district. The Israelis began to call in AH-1 Cobra helicopters to hit rooftop positions along with Caterpillar D9 armored bulldozers to detonate the booby traps and clear a path for tanks.[2]

Ambush

At 6:00 AM, reserve battalion 7020's support company was ordered to form a new line, west of the former one. It's commander, Major Oded Golomb, set out with a force to take a position in a new house. He strayed from the original path, perhaps for tactical considerations, but failed to report to his commander. The force walked into a Palestinian ambush, finding themselves in an inner courtyard surrounded by tall houses (nicknamed "the bathtub") and under fire from all directions. Rescue forces from the company and the battalion hurried to the location and were hurt by fire and explosive charges. The exchange of fire lasted several hours.[13]

A reconnaissance aircraft documented much of the fight and the footage was transmitted live, watched in the Israeli Central Command war room, by the high ranking officers. During the battle, the Palestinians managed to snatch three Israeli soldiers' bodies into a nearby house. Colonel Ram, the Shayetet commander who had fought in the camp with his men, quickly put up a rescue force. Mofaz told him that negotiation over the bodies might force the IDF to halt the operation and get it in trouble similar to the 2000 Hezbollah cross-border raid. On the edge of the alley leading to "the bathtub", Ram questioned the wounded reservists. Finally, he broke with his troops to the nearby house and, after a battle, located the bodies and got them out. In the afternoon, all Israeli casualties were evacuated from the area.[15] It became the deadliest day for the IDF since the end of the 1982 Lebanon War.[2]

During that day, the IDF censored reports on the events, leading to a wave of rumors. Partial information leaked through phone calls made by reservists and internet sites. By evening, when Chief of Central Command, Brigadier General Yitzhak Eitan, had a press conference, there were rumors of a helicopter full with dozens of fighters shot down, the death of the Ramatkal's deputy and a heart attack suffered by the Israeli Minister of Defense.[16]

Change in Israeli tactics

After the ambush, all Israeli forces began to advance by the "Buchris method". Several officers demanded that F-16s be sent to drop bombs, but the IDF high command refused.[16] The number of Caterpillar D9s in operation increased to a dozen, and the IDF maintained that the heavy bulldozers were mainly used to clear walls and streets of booby traps, open routes and widen alleyways for armored fighting vehicles, and to secure locations and movement for IDF troops.[2]

A day later, Mahmoud Tawallbe and two other militants went into a house so as to get close enough to a tank or armored D-9 bulldozer to plant a bomb. According to a British military expert working in the camp for Amnesty International, a D9 driver probably saw him and rammed a wall down onto him.[2]

At 7:00 AM on April 11, the Palestinians began to surrender. Qabha refused to surrender, and was among the last to die.[16] Zakaria Zubeidi was among the only fighters who did not surrender, and he managed to slip out of the area surrounded by the IDF, and moved through the houses and it left.[17] Mardawi surrendered along with Ali Suleiman al-Saadi, known as "Safouri", and thirty-nine others.[2] He later said that "There was nothing I could do against that bulldozer".[8]

Aftermath

Aerial photograph of the area demolished in the Jenin camp's central Hawashin district.

After the battle, Israeli intelligence estimated that half the population of noncombatants had left before the invasion, and 90% had done so by the third day, leaving around 1,300 people. The EU's contribution to the UN report said "at least 4,000 remained inside and did not evacuate the camp".[2] David Holley, a Major in the British Territorial Army and a military adviser to Amnesty International, reported that an area within the refugee camp of about 100m by 200m was flattened.[18] The BBC reported that ten percents of the camp were destroyed in the fighting.[4] Most of the demolition occurred in the Hawashin neighborhood, where most of the militants and explosives remained. Israel states that it demolished those houses because they were densely rigged with explosives.[7] The Israelis also claimed to have found explosive-making labs.[19]

One Israeli special forces commander who fought in the camp said that "the Palestinians were admirably well prepared. They correctly analyzed the lessons of the previous raid".[12] An internal investigation published by the IDF six months after the battle implicitly cast the responsibility for the death of the thirteen soldiers on them, for straying from their path unreported. It also said that the focusing on the rescue instead of subduing the enemy complicated things.[17] Buchris was given the Chief of Staff citation.[14]

Mardawi told CNN from his prison in Israel, that after learning the IDF was going to use troops, and not planes, "It was like hunting ... like being given a prize... The Israelis knew that any soldier who went into the camp like that was going to get killed... I've been waiting for a moment like that for years".[8] Yasser Arafat compared the fighting to the Battle of Stalingrad,[20] and it later became known among the Palestinians as "Jeningrad".[21]

Removal of bodies

The IDF intended to bury those identified by the army as terrorists in a special cemetery for fallen enemy troops in the Jordan Valley. Some of the bodies had already been removed from the camp Thursday and moved to a site near Jenin, but had not been buried. Others had been buried by Palestinians during the battle in a mass grave near the hospital on the outskirts of the camp. The petitioners claimed the IDF's decision violated international law as the Jordan Valley cemetery would, according to them, be basically a mass grave, thus damaging the honor of the dead.[22]

On April 12, in response to a petition presented by the Adalah organization, the Israeli High Court ordered the IDF not to remove the bodies of Palestinians killed in the battle until a hearing is held on the matter. The petition was signed by MKs Mohammed Barakeh and Ahmed Tibi.[23] Following the court's decision, issued by Supreme Court President Aharon Barak, the IDF stopped clearing the bodies from the camp.[22] On April 15, Adalah and LAW, the Palestinian Society for the Protection of Human Rights and the Environment, filed a petition, asking the Court to order the IDF to immediately hand over the bodies of Palestinians to the International Committee of the Red Cross or the Palestinian Red Crescent Society, claiming that despite Sunday's court's ruling, the IDF was leaving the bodies of dead Palestinians to rot in the Jenin refugee camp.[24]

Casualties

Initially, reporting of casualty numbers varied widely between sources and fluctuated day to day. On April 10, the BBC reported that Israel estimated 150 Palestinians had died in Jenin, and that the Palestinians were saying the number is far higher.[25] Saeb Erekat, on a phone interview to CNN from Jericho, estimated 500 dead in Operation Defensive Shield in total.[26] On April 11, the Palestinians reported 500 dead.[27] On April 12, Brigadier-General Ron Kitri said on Israeli Army Radio that there are apparently hundreds killed. He later retracted this statement.[28] Secretary-General of the Palestinian Authority, Ahmed Abdel Rahman, said that thousands of Palestinians were either killed and buried in massive graveyards or smashed under houses destroyed in Jenin and Nablus.[29] On April 13, Palestinian Information Minister, Yasser Abed Rabbo, accused Israel of digging mass graves for 900 Palestinians in the camp.[30] On April 14, After IDF gave a final figure of forty-five casualties.[31] On April 18, Zalman Shoval, adviser to Sharon, estimated that only about sixty-five bodies had been recovered, of which five were civilians.[32] On April 30, Qadoura Mousa, director of the Fatah for the northern West Bank, set the total dead at fifty-six.[33]

After the battle, the UN estimated the death toll at fifty-two Palestinians and twenty-three Israelis.[34] One Palestinian Fatah official reportedly put the death toll at fifty-six.[33] Haaretz journalists Amos Harel and Avi Isacharoff wrote in 2004 that the Israeli casualties were twenty-three dead and fifty-two wounded, while the Palestinian casualties were fifty-three dead, hundreds wounded and about 200 captured.[1] According to retired IDF General Shlomo Gazit, the Palestinians suffered fifty-five killed while Israel suffered thirty-three.[35]

UN fact-finding mission

On April 8, a UN envoy, Terje Roed-Larsen, said the devastation in the camp was "horrific beyond belief". He said it was "morally repugnant" that Israel had not allowed emergency workers in for 11 days to provide humanitarian relief. UN Secretary General, Kofi Annan, has asked the Security Council to consider sending an armed multinational force to the region, under Chapter Seven of the UN Charter which authorizes military force to impose council decisions.[36] Israeli Foreign Minister, Shimon Peres told Annan that Israel would welcome a UN official "to clarify the facts", saying "Israel has nothing to hide regarding the operation in Jenin. Our hands are clean". On April 19, the Security Council unanimously passed a resolution to send a fact-finding mission to Jenin.[37] Abed Rabbo said the mission was "the first step toward making Sharon stand trial before an international tribunal".[38] The fact-finding team was led by former Finnish President, Martti Ahtisaari. The other two members were Cornelio Sommaruga, former president of the International Committee of the Red Cross, and Sadako Ogata, the former UN high commissioner for refugees who was Japan's special envoy on Afghan reconstruction.[39]

Head of the IDF Operation Branch, Major General Giora Eiland, convinced Mofaz that the team would demand investigating officers and soldiers, and that it might accuse Israel of war crimes. He warned that it would pave the road to an international force. Eiland and Mofaz's position was accepted by Sharon.[40]Official Israeli sources said that Israel was surprised that the composition of the team was not discussed with them in advance, adding "We expected that the operational aspects of the fact-finding mission would be carried out by military experts". On April 22, Israeli Defense Minister, Benjamin Ben-Eliezer and Peres spoke to Annan. Ben-Eliezer expressed his disappointment at the make-up of the team, and expressed his hope that the mission would not overstep its mandate. Peres asked Annan to deny reports that the mission would look into events outside the refugee camp, and that the finding would have legal validity. Annan said that the mission would only investigate what happened inside Jenin, but may have to interview residents currently outside the camp. He added that the findings would not be legally binding.[39]

The Israeli government was concerned about the mission, and the cabinet secretary, Gideon Saar, threatened to ban the team from entering Jenin. On April 23, Sharon, decided the team was no longer acceptable. The reason given was the lack of military experts on the UN team. Israel also claimed not to have been adequately consulted. The US rebuked Sharon's decision, and a White House official said "We were the sponsors of that and we want it implemented as written. We support the initiative of the secretary general".[41] On April 24, Annan refused to delay the mission. Ben-Eliezer said: "In the last month alone, 137 people were slaughtered by Palestinians and nearly 700 wounded. Is there any one who is investigating that?"[42] On April 25, the UN agreed to postpone by two days the arrival of the team, and agreed to an Israeli request that two military officers be added to the team. Annan said the talks with Israel talks had been "very, very constructive and I'm sure we'll be able to sort out our differences".[43] Peres said that a delay would give the Israeli cabinet the opportunity to discuss the mission before the team arrived. Israeli Government spokesman, Avi Pazner, said that he expected the UN mission to investigate "terrorist activity" and guarantee immunity for Israeli soldiers. Israel Radio said that Israel was also pushing for the right for both sides to review the team's report before was to be presented to Annan.[44] On April 28, Israeli Communications Minister, Reuven Rivlin, told reporters after a lengthy cabinet meeting that the UN had gone back on its agreements with Israel over the team, and so it would not be allowed to arrive. Speaking for the cabinet, he said that the composition of the team and its terms of reference made it inevitable that its report would blame Israel. The Security Council convened to discuss Israel's decision not to grant entry to the UN team.[45] Meanwhile, the AIPAC lobby in Washington was called to pressure Annan and George W. Bush.[40]

On April 30, Annan decided to disband the team,[46] On May 2, the team was disbanded.[47] On May 4, Israel was isolated in an open debate in the Security Council. The deputy US ambassador to the UN, James Cunningham, said it was "regrettable" Israel had decided not to cooperate with the fact-finding team. Nasser Al-Kidwa, the Palestinian observer to the UN, said the council failed to give Annan its full support, and that the council caved in to "blackmailing" by the Israeli Government.[48] The General Assembly passed a resolution condemning Israel's military action in Jenin by 74 votes to four, with 54 abstentions.[49] The Bush administration supported Israel as part of a deal in which Sharon agreed to lift the siege of the Mukataa in Ramallah.[40]

Report

On July 31, the UN issued its report. It said the overall number of Palestinians killed was fifty-two, around half of whom may have been civilians. The report also criticized both Palestinians and Israelis for putting civilians in harm's way. Annan said the report's aim of finding out exactly what happened in Jenin had been blocked by Israel's decision to refuse access to the fact-finding team. The Israeli Foreign Ministry welcomed the findings, saying the report "clears up misconceptions" about events in the camp. An official, Daniel Taub, said the report showed that Palestinian claims of a massacre had been "nothing more than atrocity propaganda". Erekat rejected the report, saying an "Israeli massacre in Jenin's refugee camp clearly happened... and crimes against humanity also took place". A Palestinian official rejected the UN's conclusions, insisting that a massacre took place. Annan said he hoped the report would help both sides move forward, adding "I would hope that both parties will draw the right lessons from this tragic episode and take steps to end the cycle of violence which is killing innocent civilians on both sides".[34]

Allegations of a massacre and war crimes

The battle attracted widespread international attention due to Palestinian allegations that a massacre had been committed. On April 4, The Observer reported that Palestinians have called the incident a 'massacre', alleging that their houses were bulldozed with families still inside, that helicopters fired indiscriminately on a civilian area, and that ambulances were prevented from reaching the wounded in a calculated policy that meant they would bleed to death.[50] A camp resident who worked at the Jenin hospital said: "I saw the Israelis line up five young men with their legs spread and their hands up as they faced a wall. The soldiers then sprayed them from head to toe with gunfire".[51] CNN correspondent, Ben Wedeman, heard stories of bodies being loaded into trucks and driven away, and of bodies being left in the sewers and bulldozed.[52] Palestinian cabinet minister, Saeb Erekat, accused the Israelis of trying to cover up the killing of civilians.[53]

On April 9, Haaretz reported that Peres was privately referring to the battle as a "massacre".[54] The next day, Peres made a statement that the "The Foreign Minister expressed his concern that Palestinian propaganda is liable to accuse Israel that a 'massacre' took place in Jenin rather than a pitched battle against heavily armed terrorists".[55] That statement was later retracted.[28] Haaretz editor, Hanoch Marmari, later said in a lecture that "Some correspondents might have been obsessive in their determination to unearth a massacre in a refugee camp".[56] Mouin Rabbani, Director of the Palestinian American Research Center in Ramallah, cited Peres' statement and his office's decision to establish a PR committee as an indication that a massacre had taken place.[57]

In early May, Human Rights Watch completed its report on Jenin. The report said there was no massacre, but did accuse the IDF of committing war crimes.[58] On April 18, Derrick Pounder, a British forensic expert who was part of an Amnesty International team granted access to Jenin, said: "I must say that the evidence before us at the moment doesn't lead us to believe that the allegations are anything other than truthful and that therefore there are large numbers of civilian dead underneath these bulldozed and bombed ruins that we see".[32] In November, Amnesty International reported that there was "clear evidence" that the IDF committed war crimes against Palestinian civilians, including unlawful killings and torture, in Jenin and Nablus.[59] The Observer reporter, Peter Beaumont, wrote that what happened in Jenin was not a massacre, but that the mass destruction of houses was a war crime.[60]

Harel and Isacharoff wrote that the IDF's misconduct with the media, including Kitri's statement, contributed to the allegations of massacre. Mofaz later admitted that the limitations imposed on the media were a mistake. Head of the Operations Directorate, General Dan Harel, said: "Today, I would send a reporter in every APC".[10]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Harel and Isacharoff (2004), pp. 257-258
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Rees, Matt. "Inside the Battle of Jenin". Time Magazine. Retrieved 2008-09-19.
  3. ^ "Jenin's Terrorist Infrastructure". Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs. 2002-04-04. Retrieved 2008-09-22.
  4. ^ a b c Lee, Ken (2003-06-24). "Jenin rises from the dirt". BBC. Retrieved 2008-09-21.
  5. ^ Harel and Isacharoff (2004), pp. 254-255
  6. ^ "The Palestinian Account of the Battle of Jenin". MEMRI. 90 (April 23, 2002). Retrieved 2008-09-19.
  7. ^ a b c Cook, Jonathan. "The 'engineer'". Al-Ahram. No. 582. Retrieved 2008-09-22.
  8. ^ a b c "Palestinian fighter describes 'hard fight' in Jenin". CNN.com. 2002-04-23. Retrieved 2008-09-18.
  9. ^ Harel and Isacharoff (2004), pp. 253-254
  10. ^ a b Harel and Isacharoff (2004), p. 259
  11. ^ Harel and Isacharoff (2004), p. 254
  12. ^ a b c d Harel and Isacharoff (2004), p. 255
  13. ^ a b Harel and Isacharoff (2004), p. 256
  14. ^ a b "Citation to Golani battalion commander badly wounded in Defensive Shield". nrg. 2002-07-08. Retrieved 2008-09-22.
  15. ^ Harel and Isacharoff (2004), pp. 256-257
  16. ^ a b c Harel and Isacharoff (2004), p. 257
  17. ^ a b Harel and Isacharoff (2004), p. 258
  18. ^ "Expert weighs up Jenin 'massacre'". BBC. 2002-04-29. Retrieved 2008-09-21.
  19. ^ Saporito, Bill (2002-04-14). "Jenin: Defiant to the Death". Time. ISSN 0040-718X. Retrieved 2008-09-21. {{cite news}}: Check |issn= value (help)
  20. ^ Burston, Bradley (2008-02-12). "Sderot as Stalingrad, Hamas as blind Samson". Haaretz. Retrieved 2008-09-20.
  21. ^ Belden, Paul (2003-04-09). "A street fight called Jeningrad". Asia Times. Retrieved 2008-09-21.
  22. ^ a b Harel, Amos (2002-04-14). "Court rejects petitions demanding IDF not remove Jenin dead". Haaretz. Retrieved 2008-09-21. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  23. ^ Harel, Amos (2002-04-13). "Court: IDF can't move bodies; Lieberman: Barak must be ousted". Haaretz. Retrieved 2008-09-21. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  24. ^ Hass, Amira (2002-04-16). "Court told: IDF leaving dead to rot in Jenin". Haaretz. Retrieved 2008-09-21. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  25. ^ "Israeli pull-out on hold after bombing". BBC. 2002-04-10. Retrieved 2008-09-21.
  26. ^ "Colin Powell's Challenge". CNN.com. 2002-04-10. Retrieved 2008-09-21.
  27. ^ Wedeman, Ben (2002-04-11). "Access to Jenin difficult". CNN.com. Retrieved 2008-09-21.
  28. ^ a b Sadeh, Sharon (2002-05-16). "How Jenin battle became a 'massacre'". The Guardian. Retrieved 2008-09-18.
  29. ^ "Palestinians: Hundreds in Mass Graves". Newsmax.com. 2002-04-13. Retrieved 2008-09-21.
  30. ^ Jenin refugee camp emerges defeated, sabcnews.com
  31. ^ Shuman, Ellis and israelinsider staff (2002-04-14). "Security: IDF now estimates 45 Palestinians died in Jenin fighting". Israelinsider. Retrieved 2008-06-30.
  32. ^ a b "Jenin 'massacre evidence growing'". BBC. 2002-04-18. Retrieved 2008-09-21.
  33. ^ a b Martin, Paul (2002-05-01). "Jenin 'massacre' reduced to death toll of 56". The Washington Times. Retrieved 2008-09-21.
  34. ^ a b "UN says no massacre in Jenin". BBC. 2002-08-01. Retrieved 2008-09-21.
  35. ^ Herzog & Gazit (2005), p. 433
  36. ^ "Jenin camp 'horrific beyond belief'". BBC. 2002-04-18. Retrieved 2008-09-21.
  37. ^ "UN to send mission to Jenin". Telegraph. 2002-04-20. Retrieved 2008-09-21.
  38. ^ Vulliamy, Ed (2002-04-21). "Israel: We have nothing to hide in Jenin probe". The Guardian. Retrieved 2008-09-21. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  39. ^ a b Benn, Aluf (2002-04-23). "Ben-Eliezer, Peres to Annan: Israel unhappy with Jenin delegation". Haaretz. Retrieved 2008-09-21. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  40. ^ a b c Harel and Isacharoff (2004), p. 260
  41. ^ Goldenberg, Suzanne (2002-04-24). "Israel blocks UN mission to Jenin". The Guardian. Retrieved 2008-09-21.
  42. ^ Philps, Alan (2002-04-25). "Israel defies UN over Jenin mission". Telegraph. Retrieved 2008-09-21.
  43. ^ "U.N. delays arrival of Jenin team until Sunday". CNN.com. 2002-04-26. Retrieved 2008-09-21.
  44. ^ "Jenin mission delayed until Sunday". BBC. 2002-04-27. Retrieved 2008-09-21.
  45. ^ Benn, Aluf (2002-04-29). "Security Council meets after Israel denies entry to UN team". Haaretz. Retrieved 2008-09-21.
  46. ^ Curtius, Mary (2002-05-01). "Annan Urges U.N. to Drop Jenin Probe". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2008-09-21. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  47. ^ "Annan disbands Jenin investigation team". RTÉ News. 2002-05-03. Retrieved 2008-09-21.
  48. ^ "Israel isolated in UN debate over Jenin mission". ABC News Online. 2002-05-04. Retrieved 2008-09-21.
  49. ^ Watson, Rob (2002-05-08). "UN condemns Israel over Jenin". BBC. Retrieved 2008-09-21.
  50. ^ Beaumont, Peter (2002-04-14). "Ten-day ordeal in crucible of Jenin". The Guardian. Retrieved 2008-09-21.
  51. ^ "Evidence and Reality Collide in a Battle of Words". Sydney Morning Herald. ISSN 0312-6315. Retrieved 2008-09-21.
  52. ^ "Conflict in the Middle East: Fierce Fighting Continues in Jenin". CNN.com. 2002-04-12. Retrieved 2008-09-21.
  53. ^ "Jerusalem suicide bomber kills at least six". The Guardian. 2002-04-12. Retrieved 2008-09-21.
  54. ^ Benn, Aluf (2002-04-09). "Peres calls IDF operation in Jenin a 'massacre'". Haaretz. Retrieved 2008-09-21. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  55. ^ Reuters (2002-04-10). "Peres fears Palestinians will distort Jenin battle". Haaretz. Retrieved 2008-09-21. {{cite news}}: |last= has generic name (help)
  56. ^ Marmari, Hanoch. "Digging beneath the surface in the Middle East conflict". Haaretz. Retrieved 2008-09-20.
  57. ^ Rabbani, Mouin. "The Only Truth About Jenin Is the Israeli Cover-Up". Washington Report on Middle East Affairs (May 2002). Retrieved 2008-09-21.
  58. ^ Wood, Paul (2002-05-03). "'No Jenin massacre' says rights group". BBC. Retrieved 2008-09-21.
  59. ^ "Rights group accuses Israel of war crimes". The Washington Post. 2002-11-04. Retrieved 2008-09-21.
  60. ^ Beaumont, Peter (2002-04-25). "Not a massacre, but a brutal breach of war's rules". The Guardian. Retrieved 2008-09-21.

Bibliography

  • Harel, Amos (2004). The Seventh War. Tel-Aviv: Yedioth Aharonoth Books and Chemed Books. p. 431. ISBN 9655117677. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help) Template:He icon
  • Herzog, Chaim (2005). The Arab-Israeli Wars: War and Peace in the Middle East. Vintage. p. 560. ISBN 1400079632. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)

Further reading

  • Goldberg, Brett (2003). A Psalm in Jenin. Israel: Modan Publishing House. p. 304. ISBN 965-7141-03-6.
  • Baroud, Ramzy Mohammed, editor (2003). Searching Jenin: Eyewitness Accounts of the Israeli Invasion 2002. Seattle, Washington: Cune Press. p. 256. ISBN 1885942346. {{cite book}}: |first= has generic name (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)

External links

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