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CNN Live Today

Top Human Rights Body of U.N. Condemns Israel's Military Assault of Jenin Refugee Camp

Aired April 15, 2002 - 10:24   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Earlier today, the top human rights body of the United Nations condemned Israel's military assault of the Jenin refugee camp, saying that it led to -- quote -- "mass killings." Well, Israel says about 70 militants were killed in the action, but Palestinian officials say hundreds died in what they are calling a massacre.

CNN's Rula Amin was allowed to get into Jenin to survey the aftermath, but the real answers remain hidden in the rubble.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RULA AMIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): After more than a week of denying access to journalists, the Israeli army escorted some on Sunday to Jenin refugee camp. What the cameras documented was tens of houses knocked down, many bulldozed. Many of those still standing also suffered heavy blows.

U.N. agencies estimate more than 3,000 residents of Jenin refugee camp are now homeless, about 20 percent of the camp's population. Many of them are here at this elderly home turned into a temporary refuge. People tried to help, sending them blankets and supplies, but it is not enough.

"We don't want any food rations," says this woman, "we want to go back to our homes. We want to go and find our dead and bury them."

U.N. officials said that bodies were piling up at the camp. Palestinians charge the Israeli army has carried out a massacre in Jenin refugee camp, that more than 500 Palestinians have been killed, most of them civilians. Israel says the dead number is closer to 100, and most of them were fighters, and the charges of an Israeli massacre are alive.

CNN has not been able to corroborate the Palestinian or Israeli accounts of what has transpired in Jenin. All we can do at this point is report what the conflicting parties are telling us. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I saw no massacre, no bodies rolling on the floors. You are welcome -- we are going to take you to the places, which were destroyed by the bulldozers, the center of the camp. This is the place, where we had the massive objective of terrorists, massive objections. AMIN: Omah Bella (ph) says she fled the Jenin refugee camp for a nearby hospital where she works. She says her 62-year-old husband has been arrested, her 19-year-old son is missing. She tells us that as she hid in an alley, she witnessed a summary execution.

"They put the men with their arms up against the wall, and then they sprayed them with bullets from top to bottom. They fell down like birds, five young men. I saw it with my own eyes."

Despite the high number of casualties, only five wounded have made it to this major hospital close to the camp. Israel wouldn't allow ambulances in.

(on camera): The battle over Jenin and Jenin refugee camp is over, but not the battle of wills between the two people on who will break first.

(voice-over): Rula Amin, CNN, from outside the Jenin refugee camp.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARRIS: And for more on the crisis in the Middle East, just log onto "Centuries of Conflict" at cnn.com. Take an interactive look at the tumultuous history of that region and get profiles of leaders in both the Israeli and the Palestinian governments and much, much more. You will find all of that at AOL keyword, CNN.

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