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American Morning
Reporters Enter Jenin Under Escort
Aired April 16, 2002 - 07:26 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.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: We're going to turn our attention now back to the Middle East. We have Rula Amin, one of our correspondents, on the ground, who has just been able to enter Jenin on escort. A place, of course, where there's great debate of the extent of the damage done not only to homes, but the civilian toll as well.
Rula, can you hear me? And if you can, just please describe to us what you've seen.
RULA AMIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Paula, I'm standing here in one of the neighborhoods where obviously there has been fierce fighting. A large area has been bulldozed, and many of the houses have been knocked down, obviously by bulldozers or explosives.
Three houses I am looking at have been badly, badly damaged. We see families coming in to check their houses. Most of the people here have their scarves put around their nose and mouth. The smell is very bad. There are many bodies (UNINTELLIGIBLE) still lying around not to retrieve.
I went into one -- sorry, Paula, go ahead.
ZAHN: No please -- please carry on.
AMIN: I went into one house -- a woman took me to the house and she said, "I want you to see what's in my house." I went inside, and there were five bodies. Some were covered with blankets, some were not. But it was obvious those people had been dead for a few days.
They were in a state of decomposite (ph). The faces were black, flies were flying around. The smell was so bad. One of the journalists actually fainted when he smelled that smell.
And there are many journalists here -- not many, but there are a few journalists. We all snuck in together behind Israeli tanks, and the scene is really a lot of destruction, a lot of devastation -- Paula.
ZAHN: All right. Rula, Israeli officials have been saying that there is no signs obviously of any massacre. The Palestinians originally calling it that, saying that hundreds of people were killed. Give us the latest information you have on the human toll. AMIN: Well, Paula, it seems that the longer it takes for people to get in the camps, the longer that this is going to be to verify all the different accounts -- the Palestinians are charging that -- the eye witnesses we have spoken to, that Israeli soldiers carried out summary executions. That they shot people as they surrendered, that they have prevented ambulances from coming in.
And all these are very strong charges. They account to a kind of war crime. However, the army says, yes, the death toll is high, but there have been a few fights in Jenin, and 23 Israeli soldiers have been killed in that fight. And obviously the number of casualties is going to be high.
So there is no actually dispute on that the number of casualties here is high. The dispute is how did these people die, and who is more responsible? The Palestinians are charging the number is over 500, the Israelis put it around 100, 150. It's going to be very hard to tell.
We spoke to eight agencies, representatives, who have been able to get inside the camp for the second day. And they are telling us it's very hard to retrieve some of the bodies because they don't have the professional tools and skills to get bodies out from beneath the rubble -- Paula.
ZAHN: And, Rula, in closing, I'm just curious what the reaction there is to the news that Ariel Sharon told President Bush that he would have the Israeli troops out of Jenin some time within a week or so.
AMIN: You know, the news actually doesn't seem to make a big difference to the people here, except for those who are outside the camp and who have lost part of their families inside the camp, and they're trying desperately to get inside to see and check what happened to their houses and what happened to their families, like in terms of their sons. We've met many mothers in Jenin town who have said they have lost contact with their sons, they don't know whether they are among the dead or alive.
However, when we here, you know -- and in Jenin -- were talking to people, and people are trying to get the attention, the world's attention to this camp -- especially Colin Powell, who has heard many bitter statements saying, how come the U.S. secretary of state is sympathizing with the Israeli suffering and not paying any attention to the Palestinian suffering? They're very desperate for some kind of attention to what's happened here. They are looking actually for condemnation for whatever measures Israel took here. But so far, they haven't been able to get that -- Paula.
ZAHN: All right. Once again, that's Rula Amin, reporting from Jenin, an area that the Israelis consider a stronghold for Palestinian militants. A two and a half square mile packed refugee camp. Rula Amin, one of the few reporters that has been able to get in there -- thanks, Rula.
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