Analysis and Commentary from UN watch in Geneva
(May 1, 2002)
News:
The Jenin fact-finding committee of former Finnish president Martti
Ahtisaari, former UN High Commissioner for Refugees Sadako Ogata
and former head of the International Committee of the Red Cross,
Cornelio Sommaruga, are in Geneva, awaiting an agreement on the
terms of reference between the UN and the State of Israel.
Analysis:
While the political wrangling continues in New York and the three-person
commission of inquiry waits in Geneva, the UN is already at work
assessing the situation in Jenin.
On April 29, the UN’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian
Affairs (OCHA) released a report entitled, "Jenin camp
statistics and information." The report confirms 53
fatalities between 4 April, when the Israeli military operation
began, and 20 April. Forty four Palestinians were killed in the
Jenin camp and nine were killed in the town of Jenin. Two hundred
and sixty nine were injured. The UN’s source? The Jenin
Governor’s office. If the local Palestinian government is not
claiming that a massacre took place and a UN agency on the ground
confirms this account, why give credence to the accusation of Yasser
Arafat and his cronies about mass killings?
But what about the Palestinian accusation that hundreds of persons
are missing and buried in secret mass graves? OCHA’s report
states that there are eight people missing from the camp and 17
from the town. Their source? UNRWA, the UN’s Palestinian
refugee agency. The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC)
and UNRWA interviewed 150 families in the Jenin camp. Not one additional
person was missing.
The UN now has evidence of humanitarian law violations by the Palestinian
combatants in Jenin, specifically the use of mines and explosive
booby traps in civilian areas. OCHA has just documented the facts:
"There are many Unexploded Ordinance (UXOs) and Improvised
Explosive Devices (IED) in the camp (example: in four days, 285
items were found in the camp) needing to be removed as a matter
of urgency. Some international teams had done assessments but there
has been no clearance yet. UNRWA requested OCHA’s assistance
in providing expertise on demining coordination for Jenin refugee
camp. OCHA liaised with the UN Mine Action Service (UNMAS) to obtain
immediate deployment of an expert (already arrived) to look into
demining issues in Jenin, particularly with expertise on Improvised
Explosive Devices." Imagine how densely the camp was mined,
if the UN has already found 285 explosive devices and requested
an expert on "Improvised Explosive Devices."
The UN’s children agency, UNICEF, is also on the ground. They
had the distasteful duty to report to OCHA that a child was killed
by one of the abovementioned explosive devices. Another five children
(and eight adults) were "injured by UXOs," according
to the report.
Also inventoried are destroyed and dangerous buildings, water,
electricity and sewage services.
In summary, UN agencies on the ground have confirmed the number
of dead, injured and missing, officially exposing the Palestinian
myths of a massacre and mass graves. The battle site has been examined
and Israeli allegations of extensive mining by Palestinians have
been confirmed. While the mandate is being debated, the fact-finding
is already underway.
Source: UN WATCH
E-mail: unwatch@unwatch.org
Permission granted to reproduce any of these items, with appropriate
recognition to UN Watch.
|