Straw condemns Israel's action in Jenin

BRITAIN took Israel to task yesterday for its offensive in the West Bank when Jack Straw proposed an international investigation into allegations of atrocities in Jenin.
Mr Straw, the Foreign Secretary, said that investigators should be allowed to see for themselves what happened in the refugee camp. There were also calls from the United Nations for the deployment of an international peacekeeping force in the area, and diplomats in New York were debating a UN Security Council resolution highly critical of the Israeli authorities.

Last night the Israeli army said that “dozens” of Palestinians were buried under the rubble of about a hundred houses destroyed in the battles in Jenin refugee camp, but reiterated its denial of Palestinian charges of a massacre. “Until now, we have transferred 25 bodies to the Palestinians. We believe that without doubt there are dozens of other dead buried under the ruins,” Sharon Feingold, an army spokeswoman, said. “There has not been a massacre, but it could be sadly that there are innocent civilians among the dead." Earlier yesterday an Israeli military spokesman described its operation in Jenin as a resounding success. He said that the army had lost 23 soldiers because of its concern for civilian life.