JERUSALEM,
June 4 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - The United Nations is still
investigating Israeli occupation army practices against civilian
Palestinians in devastated Jenin Refugee Camp. Whereas twelve Israeli
officers and soldiers will soon be decorated for acts of bravery
during what Palestinians dubbed “Jenin massacre”, Israelis called
chaotic fighting in the camp two months ago.
A
military Israeli source told Agence France-Presse (AFP) Tuesday, June
4, that eight Israeli captains, commanders of elite infantry,
parachute and tank units are among those to be decorated. Two soldiers
will receive the awards posthumously.
Also
to be cited will be several units, including the engineer who operated
the giant bulldozers that razed and grounded the camp, according to
Israeli daily newspaper Yediot Aharonot.
The
Palestinians accused Israeli forces of committing war crimes and
massacring civilians during the Israeli nine-day crack down during the
Israeli incursion into the camp, which lasted until April 12.
Israel,
for its part, repeatedly denied such accusations, insisting that about
50 people died in pitched battles that also left 23 of their soldiers
dead.
Human
rights investigators said there was no evidence of a massacre but the
Israeli army committed acts that could be qualified as war crimes. An
attempt to send a UN fact-finding team to the spot was blocked by
Israel.
On
May 14, 2002, Fred Eckhard, spokesman for U.N. Secretary-General Kofi
Annan said that the preparation of the United Nations report on the
events in Jenin began and was expected to take six weeks. That means
the investigation should be concluded around mid June.
The
report was requested by an overwhelming majority of countries taking
part in an emergency General Assembly session convened May, 7 to
discuss the situation in the Middle East.
The
General Assembly voted 120 in favor, four against, and six abstaining
to commission the report from Annan.
The
assembly met at the request of the Arab world after the issue of Jenin
paralyzed the Security Council. Despite hours of closed door
discussions and public debate, the council could not come to a
consensus on how to respond to Israel's refusal to receive a
fact-finding mission to shed light on the events in Jenin
