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CNN Saturday Morning News
Israeli Tanks, Troops Charge Two West Bank Villages
Aired April 13, 2002 - 07:02 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.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Much of the Israeli military action has been focused in and around the West Bank town of Jenin. A refugee camp there had been the site of bloody fighting earlier this week. And earlier today, Israeli tanks and troops charged into two nearby villages.
CNN's Rula Amin is in Jenin and joins us now by phone with the latest.
Hello, Rula.
RULA AMIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, good morning.
We are here in Berkin (ph) village just on the outskirts of Jenin refugee camp. We're here because we have been trying for the fourth day in a row to go into Jenin refugee camp, with no luck. Israeli army won't allow anybody in, including the journalists.
So this morning, while we were in Berkin, Israeli tanks and APCs rolled into this little village around 6:00 a.m. in the morning. Then the Israeli soldiers, through loudspeakers, enforced a curfew, asking all residents to stay inside their homes.
This was about half an hour ago. Their loud -- again, the soldiers through the loudspeakers asked the men who belong to any kind of Palestinian Authority security organization to come down to the center of town. We have seen many men, dozens of people, just coming across the fields, going down to the center of town, and saw some of the mothers or wives crying, concerned about their fate.
This has been traditional procedure before. Every time that the army goes in, they round up Palestinian males, and then they question them. Many of them are released later on, but some are kept and are moved, transferred, on other location.
So there's a lot of tension in this little village here, especially after this incursion.
Again, we're here because we can't go into Jenin refugee camp, where the Palestinians have been charging that the Israeli army had carried out a massacre there, killing more than 500 Palestinians. Israel denies these charges vehemently. They say that is not true, it's lies. And they say that they confirm that their casualties number is actually a large number. They're saying probably at least 150 people have been killed. But they say it was not a massacre, it was a fierce fight.
Apart from the journalists, also U.N. and aid agencies have not been able to go into the camp. We've spoken to the Red Cross, the United Nations representatives, who have been trying to get in in order to take the wounded out and to assess the damage. There's a lot of damage and destruction in that camp. United Nations estimates that there's about 3,000 Palestinians from that camp who are homeless now.
And those U.N. agencies and aid agencies have been trying to get in to assess the damage in order to mobilize supplies and aid. They haven't been able to do that. Israel won't allow them in. Today even your secretary of state, Colin Powell, said that Israel should give access, unimpeded access, to those agencies in order to get into the camp and see how can they help the population there.
Back to you.
PHILLIPS: Rula, if Israel says there's not a massacre going on inside the camp, then why don't they let you in? Are you concerned you're not getting the entire truth?
AMIN: That is a big concern, not only among the journalists but among also the agencies, the U.N. agencies and the aid agencies. Even the Red Cross have not been able to get in. What -- the answer they are getting from the Israelis officially is that it's not safe, it's not secure, they cannot guarantee their safety, so they're not letting them in.
The Red Cross has been saying that this is part of their job, this is a risk that they usually take to carry out their tasks. And they're willing to take it. But they want to go into the camp. But no use, they have not been able to get into that camp yet. Palestinians are charging, of course, that this was an -- the Israeli army is trying to cover up on whatever they have done in that camp, they're trying to hide as much evidence before they let anybody in.
Back to you.
PHILLIPS: Rula Amin, live in Jenin, thank you very much.
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