08/11/2002
EDITORIAL NUMBER=0-10060

U-N REPORT ON JENIN

A United Nations report has rejected allegations that Israeli soldiers massacred Palestinian civilians in the Jenin refugee camp.

The Israeli military entered Jenin in April searching for terrorists operating out of the Palestinian territories. On April 3^rd, Israel launched an incursion into Jenin after a wave of suicide bombings killed thirty-three Israelis. Israel believed the bombings were planned in the camp. When the Israeli Defense forces left on April 18^th, they were accused by a senior official of the Palestinian authority of killing five hundred people.

The United Nations says that along with twenty-three Israeli soldiers killed, there were fifty-two Palestinian casualties in Jenin, the same death toll that had been reported by Israel. According to the U-N, half of the Palestinian dead may have been civilians.

The U-N report blames both sides for putting civilians in harm’s way. Palestinian militants put their combatants and installations in heavily populated areas. In order to target Israeli soldiers, they booby-trapped civilian homes, putting civilians in danger as well.

Israel was charged with delaying critical medical and humanitarian aide to the Palestinian wounded. Its curfew and closures were deemed responsible for leaving twenty percent of Palestinian civilians short of food. The Israeli army was also criticized for widespread destruction of civilian property. There was no evidence, however, to support claims of war crimes.

The United States remains committed to a just settlement of the Middle East conflict where both the Palestinians and the Israelis can live in peace and security. Inflammatory rhetoric, not based on the truth, has no place in the process.