Jenin's dead cast a long shadow

JENIN, West Bank Palestinians here describe bodies cut in pieces, bodies scooped up by bulldozers and buried in mass graves, bodies deliberately concealed under collapsed buildings. They describe people drinking out of sewers and people used by Israeli soldiers as human shields.

The Israeli Army continued Friday to reject any suggestion of atrocities here while blocking humanitarian workers and reporters from reaching the Jenin refugee camp, where armored vehicles could still be heard rolling over the wreckage, sending clouds of dust billowing above the city.

The army said the area was unsafe because of Palestinian booby traps. Palestinians familiar with the fighters' tactics said they had placed bombs all over the camp.

As Israeli officials struggled to deal with the corpses, the uncounted dead of Jenin were emerging as a political nightmare for Israel and a source of rage for Palestinians.

The Israeli Army has estimated that 100 were killed here, but Israeli officials have said the actual toll could reach 200. Palestinians here put the figure at several hundred but acknowledged that with many refugees having fled, no one could yet provide a precise figure.