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Reporters and Aid Workers Getting Chance to Go in and Look at Jenin

Aired April 15, 2002 - 10:21   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: Let's turn our attention now back to these Israeli military incursions into Palestinian areas. One area that saw the most intense fighting and really experienced some of the most extensive destruction was the Jenin refugee camp. And reporters and aid workers are just now getting a chance to go in and take a look for themselves, and perhaps even substantiate some of these various reports from either side here about how much damage was done and how many people have lost their lives there.

Philip Winslow is with the United Nations Relief and Works Agency. And he and his colleagues did manage to get in to Jenin refuge camp today. He joins us now on the phone.

Mr. Winslow, can you tell us what you saw?

PHILIP WINSLOW, U.S. RELIEF AND WORKS AGENCY: Well, we saw, first of all in geographical terms, only a small port of the camp. We saw the lower portion on level ground. Jenin refugee camp, the population is about 20,000, buildings up the side of a hill. We got approximately 500 meters into the camp. There was a great deal of destruction from heavy weapons, tank rounds and other heavy weapons -- astonishing damage in this civilian area.

HARRIS: And so you say you have only seen a small portion of it. Are the Israeli troops preventing you from seeing any more?

WINSLOW: Well, we had gone in with some truckloads of food, and we had had prior -- we had done a lot of coordination for security reasons of this with the Israeli Defense Forces to be able to deliver this food to locations in the camp. Once we got about 500 meters into the camp, these negotiations with the Israeli Defense Forces took approximately eight hours. Once we got 500 meters into the camp, we were told by a forward armored unit that after all, we did not have permission, as they put it, to deliver the food to this camp.

And I would point out this is a United Nations administered camp, and we were delivering food -- intending to deliver food to the United Nations refugees.

HARRIS: How many people do you think were you able to get food there delivered to?

WINSLOW: Well, in the end, on our way out of the camp, we simply delivered food to I would say eight or ten families, who were -- the area of the camp -- sorry for the noise you can hear, I have a tank passing me at this point. Sorry about the noise. We were only able to deliver food to approximately a dozen or so families in the lower part of the camp, because in this portion of the camp, there were very few people to be found. They were all -- I don't know where they were, but many empty homes.

HARRIS: Let me -- that noise that we are hearing, I am assuming that those were tanks or something that were driving past you?

WINSLOW: Yes. We are at a checkpoint now. We just left the Jenin refugee camp. We are on a road out of the camp at a checkpoint, and there's a lot of movement of tanks and armored personnel carriers past our location.

HARRIS: OK. We just want to make sure that you are in a safe place right now. Let me ask you about these conflicting assessments by either side here about how many people may have actually died there. As you may know, we have been hearing from Israeli sources that perhaps the number is in the dozens. However, the Palestinians we have been talking to or have been hearing and seeing in reports, they are all saying that there have been hundreds. In fact, they have been calling what happened there a massacre.

Did you see any evidence there that gave you any idea which side may be closer to the truth?

WINSLOW: No, absolutely not. We were not allowed to carry out even our basic mission, which was to drop off food, water and medical supplies today in the camp. The second part of my mission today would have been to do an investigation and assessment of various things, including the number of casualties. And I have absolutely no idea. I could not even begin to talk about numbers, because I did not see casualties. There certainly are -- there certainly are known to be a number of bodies buried beneath the rubble, bit I can't begin to talk about numbers.

HARRIS: When do you think you'll be able to get back in?

WINSLOW: We are coming back to the camp again tomorrow morning to try this all over again. The Israeli security forces frankly were not terribly helpful in their coordination efforts this afternoon, having spent about nine hours doing this, and we hope things will work a bit more smoothly tomorrow morning.

HARRIS: Can I ask you if you can make time to talk with us tomorrow after you have made your trip back in there? We would like to talk with you to see if there has been any progress, or at least if you have been able to get inside there and learn something different. Can we talk again tomorrow?

WINSLOW: Yes, certainly. I would be glad to talk to you tomorrow. I assume I will be here in Jenin again tomorrow. I'd be certainly glad to help if I can.

HARRIS: Great. We would love to have the opportunity to get some first-hand information from there, because there have only been a few eyeballs who have actually been able to get in there and see anything. Philip Winslow, thank you very much for your time. We look forward to talking with you tomorrow.

WINSLOW: Thank you.

HARRIS: And we hope to there is some good news to report tomorrow.

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