International Aid Workers Assess the Situation in Jenin Camp - 2002-04-15

A group of international aid workers, including a Palestinian medical team, entered the Palestinian refugee camp in Jenin for the first time since the onset of the Israeli invasion of the West Bank over two weeks ago to closely examine the devastated conditions of the camp. Red Cross and Red Crescent workers, escorted by Israeli soldiers, are searching for the bodies of victims of the clashes and rushing to treat the injured. Palestinians have accused Israel of committing a massacre in this camp, killing hundreds, including a large number of civilians. Israel claims the death toll is only in the dozens, with most being Palestinian militants. The presence of international aid workers in the Jenin refugee camp may help clarify what truly happened there. Following reports of severe shortages of food and medicine in the Palestinian refugee camp in Jenin, humanitarian and relief organizations of the United Nations have called for unrestricted access to the camp from Israel. A UN spokesperson in Geneva has warned of an increasing risk of a humanitarian disaster in the Jenin camp, which was the scene of intense fighting during the Israeli forces' invasion. Television images from inside the camp show that in an area stretching hundreds of meters, there is nothing but rubble. The Israeli army has used bulldozers to level houses and other buildings that it claims were booby-trapped.