Jenin survivors describe Israeli operation

JENIN, West Bank, April 21 (UPI) -- Palestinian eyewitnesses have given United Press International detailed accounts of the Israeli military's incursion into Jenin, describing firefights in the tight alleyways that make up much of the refugee camp, and a pattern of house demolition and the use of heavy munitions by Israeli soldiers that appears to have killed many civilians, and left survivors at risk from hunger and disease.

Israeli soldiers would demolish any building they took fire from by using tanks and armored bulldozers, inhabitants of the camp told UPI.

If they saw any movement inside the house, they would open up on it with heavy-caliber weapons, pause to see if anyone would come out and then flatten it. On other occasions, they blew the doors off with explosives and charged in firing automatic weapons, residents say.

Sometimes, they pushed civilians in ahead of them.

Residents say these tactics were adopted after 13 Israeli soldiers were killed in one day by a combination of suicide bombs, snipers and booby traps. Israel has defended its operation, saying its purpose was to root out terrorists in the camp.

"I was standing by my window, watching this tank coming down the street, when suddenly one of the soldiers saw me and fired in my direction," Maryam Ayasi -- apparently still in a state of shock -- told UPI.