Israeli tanks keep residents of Jenin camp under siege

April 9, 2002


For six days the Israeli army has laid siege to the refugee camp in Jenin and fired missiles into it. Elaine Lafferty talked to people under curfew.

Mohammed Rabeh and his family, including five children, have been without electricity or water for six days. This Palestinian farmer lives just outside Jenin, a West Bank town that has been under siege by the Israeli army since last Wednesday.

"Don't stand there," Mr Rabeh cautioned as we walked across his stone patio looking out over a field that he says he cannot tend now. "There are Israeli snipers and they have been firing here. I cannot go into my field."

At dawn on Monday Israel stepped up its assault on the refugee camp in Jenin, alleging it was still terrorist. A spokesman for the Israeli Defence Forces refused to confirm the operation, but reports from inside the city suggested that at least 25 missiles were fired into the camp from helicopters.

Israel confirmed that at least 100 Palestinians were killed inside the camp. "Many houses were booby trapped. Several residents strapped explosives around their waists and detonated themselves as they were approached by soldiers," the Israeli spokesman said. Another 150 men surrendered their weapons.

Israel contends that Jenin is a hotbed of Palestinian militancy, claiming that at least four suicide bombers who killed 25 civilians and wounded 90 others in four suicide attacks since last September came from Jenin.

Mr Rabeh said he knew one of the suicide bombers. He would never become one, but he said he understood their actions - and considered they were murderers.

"Israel is killing their hopes for a Palestinian state, for a Palestinian nation. We have no hope. We have no food. Sharon is mad, he has never been a reasonable man. He is getting back to his nature."

As children play outside in a olive tree garden, Mr Rabeh says he is living in fear. As we speak, the sound of explosions and heavy gunfire is heard in the distance.

"We are so close to the main road, I am afraid they will come into our house and I am afraid there will be a massacre," Mr Rabeh says. He has been unable to leave his house for supplies or food since last week. "If I leave the house I will be shot," he said.

Inside the army checkpoint, the Israel defence spokesman, Mr David Erhlich, says there has been heavy fighting, mostly in the refugee camp. "We have found three explosives labs," he said, "and we have encountered heavier resistance than we expected."

Mr Erhlich refused to confirm how many prisoners the Israelis have captured. But driving past the army encampment we saw 14 blindfolded men, hands tied behind their backs, kneeling on the ground. An hour later they were still outside in the same position. "Yes they are detainees," said Mr Erhlich. "We are questioning them." He declined to elaborate on whether the men were suspected militants.

As we were told to leave the area, which has been closed to journalists, and were escorted out by Israeli tanks, the escort halted and three Palestinian men emerged from the nearby brush running. A tank behind us fired several 50mm rounds towards the men, confirming Mr Rabeh's claim that the army is shooting anything that moves. A curfew has been in force and everyone is forbidden from leaving their homes.

At the Jenin Hospital, speaking by mobile phone, Dr Jaberdeen called on international aid agencies to pressure Israel to allow a ceasefire so the injured can be treated. "Ambulances cannot move around. We cannot get to the injured. I appeal to the Red Cross to go in," he said.

Stephen Ziegler, a Red Cross official, said a few ambulances were mobile inside the city, but added that the Red Cross was continuing its negotiations with Israeli officials. Right now, he said, the Red Cross was trying to restore water and electricity to Jenin and 11 surrounding communities that have been without utilities since the siege began.

"Sanitation in these places is becoming a crisis," Mr Ziegler said. "We must get water to these people."

Palestinian women forced to flee Jenin told AFP by telephone yesterday that the Israeli army was conducting savage security sweeps that left many civilian men and boys brutalised, and possibly dead.

They said the Israeli army came with bulldozers, crushing buildings and forcing people to flee for their lives.

They said the Israelis stripped suspects naked and stamped identification tags on their backs.