User:Jaakobou/Battle of Jenin

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The following is an in-progress re-write that was put on hold due to a large number of Israeli-Palestinian related conflicts. This is not the main-space article -- Battle of Jenin -- and should not be considered reliable or promoted by wikipedia. It is my personal mid-way, unfinished re-write that might not be accepted as fully neutral before examined by the community. JaakobouChalk Talk 03:00, 20 April 2008 (UTC)

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Battle of Jenin
Part of the al-Aqsa Intifada, Operation Defensive Shield

IDF D9L and D9N armored bulldozers, instrumental in changing the style of combat and the outcome of the battle.
DateApril 2002
Location
Jenin, West Bank
Belligerents
 Israel IDF 22px Fatah (Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, Tanzim)
Hamas
Islamic Jihad
Commanders and leaders
Yedidia Yehuda [1] Mahmoud Tawallbe†
Strength
1,000 200-250
Casualties and losses
23 soldiers killed 52 killed (38 armed men, 14 civilians according to IDF; 30 militants, 22 civilians according to HRW)
685 persons arrested (mostly released)

The Battle of Jenin (Arabic: مجزرة جنين Jenin Massacre) ; (Hebrew: הקרב בג'נין 2002 Battle in Jenin 2002) took place between the 3rd and 11th of April 2002 in Jenin's Palestinian refugee camp as part of Operation Defensive Shield during the Second Intifada.

The battle, initially reported as the Jenin Massacre, attracted widespread international attention due to Palestinian statements and testimonials of war crimes, including the mass killing and burial of civilians; aired most widely in the Arab, British and European media.

As the fighting died down and observers were introduced into the camp, the allegations were mostly ruled out and the final death reports of the battle estimated at 52-56 Palestinians while 23 Israeli soldiers were killed.

Background[edit]

The refugee camp of Jenin[edit]

The camp of Jenin, adjoining the south-west outskirts of the Jenin city, is the second largest 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. It had come under full Palestinian civil and security control with the rest of the city as part of the Oslo Accords in 1995, a face-to-face agreement between Israel and Palestinians which allowed Palestinians to govern themselves while dictating they prevent attacks on Israelis.

Jenin based militancy and terrorism[edit]

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, which has been referred to as "the martyrs' capital" by Palestinians[2][3][1] and 28 of the 100 suicide bombers who had launched attacks since the Second Intifada began in October 2000, have come from there.[4][5][1]

Israeli offensive background[edit]

For wider scope background regarding Arab-Israeli Conflict Second Intifada events from March until the first week in May 2002, see: Operation Defensive Shield.

Palestinian attacks[edit]

In march 2002 Israel absorbed the highest number of casualties among the months of the Second Intifada: in the territories more than 30 soldiers and settlers were killed, and 11 suicide bombings were perpetrated, in which 81 more israelis were killed (for comparison, in all the years of the First Intifada 90 Israelis were killed). The culmination of the attacks was an attack at Hotel Park - a suicide attack conducted at Hotel Park in Netanya in the midst of the Seder Pesah (on 27 March 2002), in which 30 celebrants were killed. This state, of total lack of personal security and a sense of state collapse, brought Ariel Sharon's government to act drastically for a change in situation. at a meeting conducted at the end of the holiday (28-29 March) the government decided to conduct an operation, called Defensive Shield. 


כל שרי הממשלה תמכו ביציאה למבצע למעט שניים שנמנעו: שמעון פרס ומתן וילנאי. החלטת הממשלה זכתה לתמיכה כמעט מוחלטת של הציבור היהודי בישראל. ההסכמה הרחבה השתקפה בהיענות גבוהה לכעשרים אלף צווי המילואים ששלח צה"ל ובמוטיבציה הגבוהה ששררה בקרב המגויסים.

מטרותיו של המבצע הוצגו על-ידי ראש הממשלה, אריאל שרון, בהודעה מדינית שמסר לכנסת ב־8 באפריל 2002: 

   לחיילי צה"ל ולמפקדיו ניתנו הוראות ברורות: להיכנס לערים ולכפרים שהפכו מקלט לטרוריסטים; לתפוס ולעצור מחבלים, ובעיקר את שולחיהם ואת אלה המממנים אותם ונותנים להם חסות; לתפוס ולהחרים נשק ואמצעי לחימה שמיועדים לפגוע בישראל; לחשוף ולהשמיד מתקני טרור, מעבדות חבלה, מפעלי ייצור נשק ומתקני מסתור. הפקודות הן ברורות: לפגוע בכל מי שיאחז בנשק ולשתק כל מי שינסה להתנגד לפעולת הכוחות ולסכן אותם, ולהימנע מפגיעה באוכלוסייה האזרחית.


A series of suicide attacks by Palestinian terrorists on Israeli civilians culminating with the killing of 18 Israelis in two separate attacks on March 8 and March 9 and the March 27, 2002 Passover massacre in which 30 Israelis were killed and 140 injured,[6][5] followed by six other suicide bombings in a span of two weeks,[7] prompted Israel on a special cabinet session, followed by a government agreement on the deployment of the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) to conduct a large-scale counter-terrorist offensive, (named 'Operation Defensive Shield'). At a following day press conference, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said that, No sovereign nation would tolerate such a sequence of events. while Defense Minister Ben-Eliezer stated, a massacre of this nature is something that no nation can live with.[8]

Within 24 hours Israel called up 30,000 reserve soldiers and launched Operation Defensive Shield in Ramallah and Bethlehem, entering Tulkarm and Qalqilyah a day later.[1]

Defensive Shield in Jenin[edit]

As part of the operation, Israel also targeted Jenin's refugee camp, after it charged 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",[9] including the dispatch of 28 suicide bombers.(remove this)(0)

The top target Israel wished to take out was Mahmoud Tawalbe, a 23-year-old father of two who had a job at a record store but was also heading the local Islamic Jihad cell. Tawalbe was charged for launching numerous attacks against Israelis, including a shooting on October 2001 that killed four Israeli women in Hadera, a town north of Tel Aviv. On July 2001, Tawalbe had reportedly dispatched Murad Tawalbe, his 19-year-old brother, on a failed suicide mission to Haifa. Other top Islamic Jihad targets in Jenin included Thabet Mardawi and Ali Suleiman al-Saadi (nicknamed Safouri). Mardawi was behind a March 20 suicide bomb that killed seven Israelis on a bus, while Safouri had planned a November shooting that killed two Israelis.[1]

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/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 Naval commando 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.

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,[10] some of them as large as 113 kilograms (250 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.[1]

Anticipating the heaviest resistance in Nablus, IDF commanders sent two regular infantry brigades there and just one reservist brigade to Jenin, assuming they could take over the Jenin camp in 48-72 hours, an assessment which turned out to be overly optimistic. The force's entry was delayed until April 2 due to rain.[1]

The battle[edit]

Israeli entrance[edit]

The Israeli forces, approached the city area on April 2 with infantry, armored vehicles, attack helicopters and armored bulldozers and had secured the Jenin city area by the second day. The Israeli intelligence estimated that half the population of noncombatants had already left the Jenin camp before they arrived, and 90% had done so by the third day, leaving around 1,300 people in what was to become an urban battlefield.[1]

In contrast with the attacks at the Gaza Strip and West Bank, the IDF chose, in order to minimize civilian losses, not to bomb the spots of resistance using aircraft;[5] and instead approached the camp area with only limited air and ground support to infantry, with the risk of increased losses to the soldiers.[11][5][1]

Palestinian reaction[edit]

In Jenin[edit]

After the Palestinian security forces' barracks in the Gaza Strip and West Bank had been bombed from the air, the Palestinian militants had expected a similar air strike by the Israeli military, however, it when it became clear that there would be no air strike, the militants decided to confront the IDF.

A leader of Fatah gunmen in the camp told Time that it was only when his forces saw the Israelis advancing on foot that they decided to stay and fight.[1] 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 traps" throughout the camp.[11]

An IDF Caterpillar D9 armored bulldozer driving along a 1.2 km stretch of the main street to clear booby traps set off 124 separate explosions.[1]

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.[1] 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.[1]

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.[10] 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.[1]

In the media[edit]

Palestinian sources and officials described the Israeli actions as indiscriminate, gave inflated body count reports, and raised allegations of deliberate war crimes and mass graves, which were reported in the international media,(0) leading to an increase in negative feelings toward Israel.

Journalists and International groups were banned by the IDF from entering the camp during the fighting, yet many of them reported that a massacre of Palestinian civilians may have taken place during the fighting,[12] and claims that hundreds, or even thousands, of bodies had been secretly buried in mass graves by the IDF were spread.[13][14][15][16] These allegations were aired widely in the Arab world, British and European media, inciting extreme antipathy toward Israel.[14][17][18][19]

Change in Israeli tactics[edit]

A Caterpillar D9R armored bulldozer used by the IDF during the battle.

After the April 9 ambush, the IDF changed tactics in order to continue the operation without risking more Israeli deaths, and increased to a dozen the Caterpillar D9 armored bulldozers in operation. 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.[20][21][22]

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.[1]

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.[1]

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.[1]

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.[1]

The introduction of the heavily armored bulldozers, which shrugged off explosives and RPGs alike, [23] 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.

Aftermath[edit]

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

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. [24]. An area within the refugee camp, 100 m by 200 m according to some (up to 400 m by 500 m by other estimates)[25][26] was reported to have been flattened. [27] Reports added that six (globalsecurity.org) or ten (BBC) percent of the camp were destroyed in the fighting.[28] [3]

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.[10]

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.

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.[10]

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.[29] The Israelis also claimed to have found more than a dozen explosive-making labs. [citation needed]

which caused extensive damage and contributed to the destruction of around 10% of the camp area.[20] [30][31]

Post-fighting investigations[edit]

In an article about the battle in Jenin, Time ruled out Palestinian allegations of massacre, writing that:

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.[1]

United States 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.[32]

Human Rights Watch found no evidence for a massacre, but said "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." The human rights organization also criticized Palestinian militants for having endangered the lives of Palestinian civilians in part by "intermingling" with them.

Derek Holley, a military advisor to Amnesty International, corroborated that there was no massacre. "Talking to people and talking to witnesses, even very credible witnesses, it just appears there was no wholesale killing." he added.

Allegations of a massacre[edit]

The battle attracted widespread international attention due to Palestinian allegations that massacre was committed and as a result of inflated reports on body counts by Palestinian officials and Jenin residents.[33] 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,[34][21] [35][36][37] yet many journalists reported that a massacre of Palestinian civilians may have taken place during the fighting,[38][20][12] and unconfirmed "eyewitness" claims that hundreds, or even thousands, of bodies had been secretly buried in mass graves by the IDF were spread.[20][39][14][40][33] These allegations were aired widely in the Arab world and European media (most prominently in the British media), inciting extreme antipathy toward Israel.[20][14] Critics in conservative American publications responded by alleging a "Big Jenin Lie".[41][42]

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, it is now essentially certain that no such massacre occurred.[43]

Many Arabs and Palestinians continue to use the term "Jenin Massacre" (Arabic: مجزرة جنين).


Body count estimates[edit]

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.

  • April 2 - Jenin is cut off and the incursion begin the following day.
  • 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.[44]
  • 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.[44]
  • NBC News hears from Secretary-General of the Palestinian Authority Abdel Rahman that "over 250 Palestinians killed".[44]
  • April 10 - BBC reports that Israel estimates 150 Palestinians died in Jenin but Palestinians say the number is far higher.[45]
  • Saeb Erekat on a phone interview to CNN from Jericho, estimates 500 dead in the whole Israeli offensive and states that the Jenin refuge camp no longer exists and that reports of executions are coming from there.[46] Israelis gave their response a short time later saying that it is a fabrication and a lie.[47]
  • April 11 - negotiated surrender of 34 Palestinian militants.[8] Palestinians are reporting 500 dead.[48]
  • 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).[49] 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"[50] 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. [51]
  • April 14-15 - After IDF reportedly estimate 188 Palestinians were killed[52] and one spokesperson estimated the number at 250[53], 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 there are very hard battles in the camp, and noted to Blitzer that, while "you already know that this story is a lie.", he is still using the 'massacre' term.[54]
  • Palestinian Cabinet Minister (also PA Acting Prime Minister in 2005) Nabil Shaath, in a Palestinian reaction to the interview with Sharon, accused the Israeli Prime Minister for resembling Milosevic and claimed it is a second 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.".[54]
  • On this date, the first observers were allowed into the camp.[54][26]
  • 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.[12]
  • 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.[31]
  • 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.

According to the United Nations (which was prevented from making a visit), "at least 52" Palestinian deaths were confirmed.[5] Human Rights Watch "confirmed that at least fifty-two Palestinians were killed ... This figure may rise".[55] No other Palestinian deaths from the battle have been confirmed since this time. The IDF estimate the number at 52. The designation of combatants differs (IDF counts 38 "armed men", HRW counts 30 "militants"). Palestinian Fatah investigators claimed the death toll is 56,[56] announced on April 30 by Qadoura Moussa, the Fatah director for the Northern West Bank. 23 Israeli soldiers were also killed.[57]





As the fighting died down and observers were introduced into the camp, the allegations were mostly ruled out and the Palestinian death toll was estimated at 52-56 (including a Fatah investigation),[44] while 23 Israeli soldiers were killed.[58][59]

While the massacre allegations were eventually abrogated, Palestinian officials rejected the UN's conclusions, insisting that a massacre took place and many Arabs and Palestinians continue to use the term "Jenin Massacre" (Arabic: مجزرة جنين).

International statements and human rights reports[edit]

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,"[60] 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.[61]

UN visiting mission[edit]

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.

UN fact finding mission[edit]

The United Nations Security Council unanimously proposed a fact finding mission with resolution 1405 on April 19, 2002 (ie 8 days after the surrender of the majority of the militants). The Government of Israel considered the intitiative to set up the mission as "an anti-Israeli diplomatic offensive"[citation needed].

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. [62]
  • 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?] 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)[citation needed].

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."[63]

The members of the UN mission waited for several days in Switzerland. As described in several commentaries on the Israeli and international press at the time, the United Nations had several choices:

  • Accept the Israeli conditions. Palestinian and other Arab diplomats at the UN headquarters made clear they would condemn such a move[citation needed];
  • Proceed with the investigation without Israeli cooperation and without physical access to Jenin. This would have meant relying largely on Palestinian eye-witnesses who had been able to exit the West Bank;
  • Continue pressure on the Israeli Government to change its stance. This was felt to have little possibility of success in light of US support for Israel's position on the mission's team.[citation needed]

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[64], 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[65] 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[edit]

The European Union's contribution to the UN report said "at least 4,000 remained inside and did not evacuate the camp."[5]


The UN report stated that fifty-two Palestinian deaths had been confirmed by the end of May 2002, which mirrored the IDF report, but fell short of the estimate by a senior Palestinian Authority official who had claimed that about five hundred were killed which was not corroborated by evidence.[5] This report was criticized by the group Human Rights Watch as being "flawed" due to a lack of first-hand evidence.[66] 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.

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.

Human Rights Watch report[edit]

See also: Criticism of Human Rights Watch § Battle of Jenin

The Human Rights Watch report found "no evidence to sustain claims of massacres or large-scale extrajudicial executions by the IDF". The report agreed with the total casualty figures provided by the IDF but documented a higher proportion of civilian casualties. Amnesty International concurred. The HRW report 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:

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.[67]

While focusing mainly on the actions of the IDF, the report also stated that:

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.

The report notes that:

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.

Human Rights Watch also 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".[68]

Amnesty International[edit]

Amnesty International's report on Jenin and Nablus was issued on November 4, 2002. It did not contain accusations that a massacre had occurred. However, the Amnesty report asserts that war crimes were committed by Israel, stating 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."

One section of the Amnesty report which is strongly denied by Israel is the charge that some civilians were not warned before their houses were demolished and that they were buried in the rubble. 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 re-iterating 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, the date it argues combat died down.[26]


Other controversies[edit]

  • A popular video footage of a fake burial procession, occuring between the destroyed area in the Jenin refugee camp and the nearby cemetery and shot by an aerial drone on April 28, showed Palestinians acting as pallbearers carrying a green blanket-wrapped "corpse" who repeatedly falls and then stands up and places himself back in the blanket. At some point they are joined by a crowd who runs away as the man falls, perhaps startled when the "corpse" comes to life.[69][70][71](VIDEO) On Sunday, May 5, a Palestinian advocay group called 'LAW - The Palestinian Society for the Protection of Human Rights and the Environment' denied the story and compared the evidence with images shot by Mohammad Bakri's, (Palestinian actor and film producer) latest project who was filming at the same location, they pertained that what was perceived as a staged 'burial' was actually a group of children playing "funeral" near the cemetry in Jenin. They add that the footage shows no flags which are usually is seen at many Palestinian funerals, and the children were running, which is not common for an actual funeral. According to them, the Israeli and foreign media quoted the Israeli army representative, Colonel Miri Eisen stating, "the film speaks for itself," adding "they tried to fabricate evidence of funerals to inflate the number of their dead." without criticism or investigating to what the footage actually shows.Cite error: A <ref> tag is missing the closing </ref> (see the help page).
  • During the battle, Dr. David Zangen, chief medical officer of the Israeli paratroop unit that was fighting in Jenin, reported that the IDF had worked to keep the local Palestinian hospital open and that Israeli doctors had offered the Palestinians blood for their wounded, who then refused to be given "Jewish blood". Col. Arik Gordin of the IDF Office of Military Spokesmen has stated Israel subsequently flew in 2,000 units of blood from Jordan and arranged 40 more units of blood from the Muqased Hospital (East Jerusalem), which were sent to the Ramallah and Tulkarm hospitals, and also facilitated the delivery of 1,800 units of anti-coagulants that had come from Morocco.[72][73]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s 'The Battle of Jenin' by By Matt Rees, May 13, 2002 (TIME), Also 'Untangling Jenin's Tale'
  2. ^ Jenin: The Capital of the Palestinian Suicide Terrorists (according to Fatah)
  3. ^ a b 'Jenin rises from the dirt' by Ken Lee (BBC News)
  4. ^ Suicide Bombers from Jenin (IMFA list with 18 names)
  5. ^ a b c d e f g UN Report on Jenin
  6. ^ Passover Massacre: Passover suicide bombing at Park Hotel in Netanya March 27, 2002
  7. ^ Israel enters West Bank villages
  8. ^ Statements by Israeli PM Sharon and DM Ben-Eliezer 29 Mar 2002
  9. ^ Apr 2002 Jenin's Terrorist Infrastructure 4 Apr 2002 (Communicated by the IDF Spokesman)
  10. ^ a b c d 'The engineer' by Jonathan Cook (Al-Ahram Weekly)
  11. ^ a b Palestinian fighter describes 'hard fight' in Jenin
  12. ^ a b c Jenin 'massacre evidence growing' 18 April, 2002 (BBC)
  13. ^ CNN Transcripts: Fierce Fighting Continues in Jenin/Stories of mass graves
  14. ^ a b c d 'Arabs seize 'Jenin' as rallying cry' by Philip Smucker, April 17, 2002 (Christian Science Monitor)
  15. ^ "Evidence and reality collide in a battle of words/43-year-old Muiassar Abu Ali interview". Sydney Morning Herald. 16 April 2002. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |1= (help)
  16. ^ 'Hundreds of victims 'were buried by bulldozer in mass grave'/Daud, a claimed witness, testifies.' (Telegraph.co.uk)
  17. ^ CNN Transcripts: Interview With Adel Al-Jubeir/Saudi Arabian response, April 12, 2002
  18. ^ 'Jeningrad - What the British Media said' by Tom Gross (nationalreview.com)
  19. ^ 'Middle East Media Distortion - British/European Media Bias and Jenin' by Mark Silverberg June 20, 2002 (jfednepa.org)
  20. ^ a b c d e 'Urban Warfare and the Lessons of Jenin' by Yagil Henkin (Azure magazine)
  21. ^ a b 'Ten-day ordeal in crucible of Jenin/Eyewitnesses accuse Israel of massacre' by Peter Beaumont (The Observer)
  22. ^ 'The Battle of Jenin: A Case Study in Israel’s Communications Strategy' (pg. 16) by Jaffee Center for Strategic Studies, Tel Aviv University
  23. ^ 'Palestinian fighter describes 'hard fight' in Jenin'/Tabaat Mardawi CNN interview' (CNN)
  24. ^ [1] Aerial Photographs of Jenin April 2002 (IMFA)
  25. ^ David Blair (17 April, 2002). "Blasted to rubble by the Israelis". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 2007-02-22. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  26. ^ a b c "Israel and the Occupied Territories Shielded from scrutiny: IDF violations in Jenin and Nablus". Amnesty International. 2002-11-04. Retrieved 2007-09-05. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  27. ^ Expert weighs up Jenin 'massacre'. BBC News, 29 April 2002
  28. ^ 'Jenin, Palestine - 32°27'39"N 35°17'20"E/IDF aerial imagery the Jenin Refugee Camp' (globalsecurity.org)
  29. ^ http://www.tau.ac.il/jcss/memoranda/memo63.pdf
  30. ^ CNN.com Transcripts: American Morning
  31. ^ a b Paul Martin (2002-05-01). "Jenin `massacre´ reduced to death toll of 56" (Reprint). PAGE ONE. The Washington Times. p. 01. Retrieved 2007-09-17.
    Archived from Washington Times site; as retrieved from [2] [www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/675752/posts] [3][4][5]
  32. ^ Colin US Secretary of State Powell: I've seen no evidence that would suggest a massacre took place.
  33. ^ a b 'Hundreds of victims 'were buried by bulldozer in mass grave'/Daud, a claimed witness, testifies.' (Telegraph.co.uk)
  34. ^ 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"
  35. ^ 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."
  36. ^ 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."
    Archived from The New Republic: as retrieved from [6]
  37. ^ 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'."
  38. ^ CNN: Access to Jenin difficult/Palestinians are reporting 500 dead
  39. ^ CNN Transcripts: Fierce Fighting Continues in Jenin/Stories of mass graves
  40. ^ "Evidence and reality collide in a battle of words/43-year-old Muiassar Abu Ali interview". Sydney Morning Herald. 16 April 2002. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |1= (help)
  41. ^ 'Jeningrad - What the British Media said' by Tom Gross (nationalreview.com)
  42. ^ 'Middle East Media Distortion - British/European Media Bias and Jenin' by Mark Silverberg June 20, 2002 (jfednepa.org)
  43. ^ http://www.adl.org/Israel/jenin/jenin.pdf (page 38)
  44. ^ a b c d 'BACKGROUNDER: A Study in Palestinian Duplicity and Media Indifference' by Yehuda Kraut (CAMERA)
    * April 6, 'Arabs set terms for meeting with Powell' by Deutsche Presse-Agentur
    * April 7, 'Israel warns Lebanon, Syria they risk a new border war' by Betsy Pisik, Washington Times (source)
  45. ^ http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/1920463.stm
  46. ^ 'CNN Transcripts: Colin Powell's Challenge' (April 10, 2002)
  47. ^ 'CNN Transcripts: Another Suicide Bombing on West Bank' (April 10, 2002)
  48. ^ CNN: Access to Jenin difficult/Palestinians are reporting 500 dead
  49. ^ http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2002/04/12/midreu.xml
  50. ^ http://newsmax.com/archives/articles/2002/4/12/163750.shtml
  51. ^ Jenin refugee camp emerges defeated, sabcnews.com
  52. ^ http://www.israelinsider.com/channels/security/articles/sec_0240.htm
  53. ^ http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2002/04/15/1018333482108.html?oneclick=true
  54. ^ a b c CNN Transcripts: 'Interview With Ariel Sharon; New Osama bin Laden Video Released/Palestinian Cabinet Minister Nabil Sha'ath with a reaction'
  55. ^ HRW Summary on hrw.org
  56. ^ 'Jenin "massacre" reduced to death toll of 56' by Paul Martin, Washington Times (host site) (mirror host)
  57. ^ BBC: UN says no massacre in Jenin
  58. ^ Jenin Camp Official Web Site (Google Translated), (Source) (in Arabic)
  59. ^ European Union submission to UN Report on Jenin, Paragraph 1
  60. ^ http://hrw.org/reports/2002/israel3/israel0502-01.htm#P49_1774
  61. ^ Anatomy of Anti-Israel Incitement: Jenin,Anti-Defamation League
  62. ^ [7]
  63. ^ - Jenin camp 'horrific beyond belief'. Retrieved 9th August 2007.
  64. ^ http://daccessdds.un.org/doc/UNDOC/GEN/N02/377/00/PDF/N0237700.pdf?OpenElement.resolution ES-10/10
  65. ^ http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs/2002/GA10015.doc.htm
  66. ^ http://www.hrw.org/press/2002/08/jenin080202.htm
  67. ^ http://hrw.org/reports/2002/israel3/israel0502-01.htm#P49_1774
  68. ^ "U.N. Jenin Report." Human Rights Watch. New York: August 2, 2002.
  69. ^ http://archives.cnn.com/2002/WORLD/meast/05/03/jenin.tape/
  70. ^ http://www.israelinsider.com/channels/diplomacy/articles/dip_0204.htm#
  71. ^ Pallywood, According to Palestinian Sources by Richard Landes (SecondDraft.org) (Video - min 5:49-7:00) (Youtube mirror)
  72. ^ Humanitarian assistance to the Palestinians 15 Apr 2002 (Communicated by the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories)
  73. ^ Interview with Gideon Meir, Israeli Foreign Ministry Spokesman

External links[edit]

Reports by human rights groups, the UN, the IDF and the PA[edit]

Press reports, opinions and articles about Jenin battle[edit]

Whilst considering these press and news reports, it is important to consider the date. At first, many international newspapers reported the possibility of a massacre, whereas 3-4 weeks on, they often describe the massacre as particularly unlikely.

Articles from The Observer and The Guardian

Articles from the BBC

Articles from Ha'aretz

Published personal accounts[edit]

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

  • Goldberg, Brett (2003). A Psalm in Jenin. Israel: Modan Publishing House [9]. p. 304. ISBN 965-7141-03-6. {{cite book}}: External link in |publisher= (help) 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.

Arab Accounts

Related issues to Jenin battle[edit]


Category:Battles involving Israel Category:Israeli-Palestinian conflict Category:Media bias controversies Category:Propaganda Category:Urban warfare

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