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UPDATE: War in Bethlehem

April 07 2002 1400 hrs:

Witnesses in Azza camp have reported shelling into the camp. A group of internationals there are on the floor and giving us live updates from the situation.Currently there are 7 APC's, armoured personnel carriers firing at buildings full of civilians, local and international.

April 07, 2002 09.30 hrs: The Israeli army have announced a full curfew in the Bethlehem area this morning. This has been confirmed with the Israeli DCO's office, which stated that if people sighted were old women or children "they might just be arrested. We don't know what each individual soldier might do." Anyone in the street runs the risk of shooting.

Local sources have reported large numbers of arrests in the Beit Sahour and Beit Jala areas after door-to-door searches by the Israeli army. In Beit Sahour there are reported to be 20 tanks in the area. We have reports of a total of 250 arrests in the entire district.



April 06, 2002 1530: A Red Crescent ambulance escorted by 25 international civilians was denied access to the Church of the Nativiy in Bethlehem. The group was bringing medical aid and food but was forced to turn around when the IDF refused to grant access either to Manger Square or the Church of the Nativity. Israeli soldiers said there were no injured in the church, but if they were, they were being cared for. We asked to confirm this and again were denied access.

April 05, 2002 1524: Azza camp: a local car attempted to turn around and drive away when confronted by an armoured personnel carrier. The vehicle received heavy fire which knocked out all windows. A casualty is reported but unconfirmed. Medics have been able to get into the area but are currently being interrrogated and harassed by six soldiers as five international civilains observe the unfolding situation. Ground troops are conducting a search of the area and one soldier fired his rifle into the camp without provocation.

The IDF has repeatedly thwarted the delivery of humanitarian aid (food, water, medical supplies) to the besieged people of Bethlehem. Humanitarian organizations continue to try to respond to calls by Palestinians and foreign nationals in Bethlehem to no effect.

IMC Palestine, the local and international community of Palestine repeat our call for international civilians to come to Palestine and help end the violence and destruction of our communities. Please help us NOW!!

Robert Fisk - "But 'closed military areas' achieved another Israeli victory over the Western television satellite stations. Yesterday, the BBC, Sky and CNN, with their own crews largely prevented from filming in the reoccupied Palestinian cities, all ran footage of the Bethlehem battle taken by Israeli soldiers. Rather than refuse to use the tape unless their own crews were permitted access to the carnage, the three channels all dutifully used the film taken by the army of occupation. Another milestone in the collapse of journalism in the Middle East. But not so serious as the collapse of America's peace-making."



Statement from internationals in Azza Camp.

Image and story from the attack on a local family.





UPDATE: War in Jenin

April 06, 2002 1800: Yesterday at Al Razi hospital in Jenin, doctors and medics watched on helplessly as 28-year-old Nidal Al Haj bled to death inside the hospital yard. Dr. Ali Jabareen from the hospital explained how;the medics waited for a long time, but they could get to him because of the shelling;. Hospitals report a shortage of oxygen and other medical supplies. Our sources in Jenin report the a dreadful humanitarian situation. The Israeli army has attacked continuously throughout the night, the refugee camp and the city. Apache helicopters have attacked and seriously damaged around 50 houses in the western side of the camp, 20 people are reported injured, bleeding in the street. Reports from the inhabitants are that there are 15 dead bodies in different locations, but again ambulances came under attack when trying to gain access to these bodies; this time with ammunition from the helicopters.

The latest news from Jenin is that the Israel army is systematically bulldozing houses in the refugee camp, which is home to some 15,000 Palestinians in an area of one kilometre squared. This is happening at the same time they are dropping tear gas from helicopters on the camp.

For two days the camp has resisted the Israeli invasion so now the nature of the invasion has changed. In an unprecedented breach of human rights, Israeli occupation soldiers announced in the afternoon that they would cease their fire in order to allow the women and elderly to get water only to arrest them and use them as human shields later on.

Since the residents have had no water for days, a number of women and elderly men came out of their homes. However, as they reached the camp's entrance, where Israeli tanks and personnel carriers are, they were all detained. Shortly after that, residents reported hearing the Israeli forces calling out on the microphone to the resistance fighters and security officers to surrender in order to save the lives of the detained civilians.

The detainees were seen strapped to the tanks and personnel carriers, which resumed their bombardment campaign shortly after that call for surrender.. Strikingly, the Israeli officer previously heading the Jenin reoccupation offensive was reprimanded and removed from his duty after having failed to take over the camp in the past four days. Currently, Shaul Mofaz, Israel's Chief of Staff, heads the brutal operation personally. Palestinian officials have thus held him directly responsible for the atrocities taking place in the Jenin refugee camp.

Letters from the Massacre in Jenin.



THE OCCUPATION FORCES ARE BULLDOZING HOMES WITH THE INHABITANTS INSIDE.

Flashpoints: Eyewitness to all out assault on crowded Jenin Camp

We talked to a family in Jenin Camp.

They are in their home with five children. All day they have been hearing bombs all around. Tens of houses have been destroyed by the shelling. Many died inside. There are people bleeding on the streets, some are children. Red Cross is unable to do anything. The camp is surrounded and under heavy indiscriminate fire. It's a massacre. Several phone calls have arrived at the Jenin hospital. People are calling for help. The doctors said that most of the people calling say: "help us, we are going to die, please help us". Several people whose houses have been bombed are running around the street carrying white flags and with no where to go.