Editing Operation Defensive Shield (section)

== Fact-finding and criticism ==

===UN fact-finding mission===
A UN fact-finding mission was established under [[United Nations Security Council Resolution 1405|UN Security Council Resolution 1405]] (April 19, 2002) into Operation Defensive Shield following Palestinian charges that a massacre had occurred in Jenin, which later proved to be false.{{Citation needed|date=November 2023}} In its attachment to the UN report the Palestinian Authority decried Israel's "culture of impunity" and called for "an international presence to monitor compliance with international humanitarian law, to help in providing protection to Palestinian civilians and to help the parties to implement agreements reached."<ref name="UNMay7" />

A report of the European Union attached in the report stated, "The massive destruction, especially at the centre of the refugee camp, to which all heads of mission in Jerusalem and Ramallah can testify, shows that the site had undergone an indiscriminate use of force, that goes well beyond that of a battlefield."<ref name="UNMay7" />

The report states that there were numerous reports of the [[Human shields in the Israeli–Palestinian conflict|IDF using Palestinians as human shields]]. Israel denied the allegations.<ref name="jenin_report_press">[https://www.un.org/press/en/2002/SG2077.doc.htm ''Report of Secretary-General on recent events in Jenin, other Palestinian cities''], Press Release. UN, 1 August 2002 (doc.nr. SG2077)</ref>

===Human rights groups===
[[Human Rights Watch]] determined that "Israeli forces committed serious violations of international humanitarian law, some amounting prima facie to war crimes."<ref>[[Human Rights Watch]], May 2002, [http://hrw.org/reports/2002/israel3/israel0502-01.htm#P49_1774 Jenin: IDF Military Operations: Summary], ''Israel, the Occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip, and Palestinian Authority Territories'', Vol 14, No. 3</ref>

[[Amnesty International]] reported that war crimes occurred in the [[Jenin]] refugee camp and in [[Nablus]], including: unlawful killings; a failure to ensure medical or humanitarian relief; demolition of houses and property occurred (sometime with civilians still inside); water and electricity supplies to civilians were cut; torture or other cruel, [[inhuman or degrading treatment]] in arbitrary detention occurred; and Palestinians civilians were used for military operations or as "human shields." According to Amnesty, "the IDF acted as though the main aim was to punish all Palestinians."<ref>{{cite web|title=Israel and the Occupied Territories Shielded from scrutiny: IDF violations in Jenin and Nablus |publisher=Amnesty International |date=4 November 2002 |url=http://web.amnesty.org/library/Index/ENGMDE151432002?open&of=ENG-PSE |access-date=2007-09-21 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070810122713/http://web.amnesty.org/library/Index/ENGMDE151432002?open&of=ENG-PSE |archive-date=10 August 2007 }}</ref>

===Destruction of infrastructure and property ===
Scholars have noted "the Israeli military systematically destroy[ing] West Bank infrastructure, including roads, water-treatment and power-generating plants, and telecommunications facilities, as well as official database and documents" during the Operation.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Young |first=Gay |date=2004 |editor-last=Kimmerling |editor-first=Baruch |title=Supporting Israel: A Traitorous Stance |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/3593985 |journal=Contemporary Sociology |volume=33 |issue=4 |pages=410–413 |doi=10.1177/009430610403300406 |jstor=3593985 |issn=0094-3061|url-access=subscription }}</ref> 

==== Destruction of Palestinian Authority property ====
The UN report noted that "United Nations agencies and other international agencies, when allowed into Ramallah and other Palestinian cities, documented extensive physical damage to Palestinian Authority civilian property. That damage included the destruction of office equipment, such as computers and photocopying machines, that did not appear to be related to military objectives. While denying that such destruction was systematic, the Israeli Defence Forces have admitted that their personnel engaged in some acts of vandalism, and are carrying out some related prosecutions."<ref name=jenin_report_press /><ref name=UNreport />

[[Cheryl Rubenberg]] writes that data and records held by Palestinian civilian institutions were systematically destroyed by the IDF; among the institutions affected were the [[Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics]] (PCBS), the Palestinian Authority's Ministries of Culture, Education and Health, and the [[Palestine International Bank]].<ref name=Rubenbergp351>Cheryl Rubenberg, [https://archive.org/details/palestiniansinse0000rube/page/352 <!-- quote=operation defensive shield march. --> ''The Palestinians–In Search of a Just Peace''], pp. 351–352. Lynne Rienner Publishers, 2003</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.pna.gov.ps/new/repintrod02.pdf |title=Report on the Destruction to Palestinian Governmental Institutions in Ramallah Caused by IDF Forces Between March 29 and April 21, 2002 |access-date=2014-01-05 |url-status=bot: unknown |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030323112115/http://www.pna.gov.ps/new/repintrod02.pdf |archive-date=March 23, 2003}}. Palestinian NGO Emergency Initiative in Jerusalem (PNEIJ), 22 April 2002. The report is also published on [http://www.seruv.org.il/testimonies/destruction_april_ram.htm this website] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130930114712/http://www.seruv.org.il/testimonies/destruction_april_ram.htm |date=September 30, 2013}}</ref><ref name="pitt.edu">[http://pitt.edu/~ttwiss/irtf/palestinlibsdmg.html ''Damage to Palestinian Libraries and Archives during the Spring of 2002''] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303224156/http://www.pitt.edu/~ttwiss/irtf/palestinlibsdmg.html |date=2016-03-03}}. University of Pittsburgh, 16 January 2003</ref>

[[Amira Hass]], an Israeli reporter for ''[[Haaretz]]'', criticized the IDF for targeting computer files and printed records, dubbing the offensive "Operation Destroy the Data". She wrote that "this was not a mission to search and destroy the terrorist infrastructure.&nbsp;... There was a decision made to vandalize the civic, administrative, cultural infrastructure developed by Palestinian society".<ref>Hass, Amira. ''Haaretz'', 24 April 2002, {{cite web|url=http://news.haaretz.co.il/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=155181 |title=Operation Destroy the Data |access-date=2007-11-16 |url-status=bot: unknown |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030313224244/http://news.haaretz.co.il/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=155181 |archive-date=March 13, 2003}} on web.archive.org.</ref>

==== Destruction of non-governmental property ====
Large-scale destruction was reported of properties of NGOs, media, universities, cultural centers, and other institutions. Complete libraries and archives, including video and music archives, as well as equipment were looted, vandalized and destroyed. Also demolition of shops and a religious compound were reported.<ref name="pitt.edu"/>

===Jenin massacre allegations===
A great deal of the media attention to Operation Defensive Shield centered around Palestinians claims of a large-scale [[Battle of Jenin (2002)|massacre in Jenin]]. Palestinian cabinet minister Saeb Erekat was widely quoted by the press as saying there were 500 massacred Palestinians in the Israeli assault on Jenin.<ref>[[CNN]], 5 May 2002, [http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0205/05/le.00.html CNN Transcripts: 'Interview with Condoleezza Rice; Last Chance for Arafat?; How to Best Protect the Cockpit?']<br />- "BLITZER: Mr. Erakat, you probably know that you've come under some widespread criticism here in the United States for initially charging that the Israelis were engaged in a massacre in Jenin. Perhaps 500 Palestinians murdered in that massacre, you suggested. But now all of the evidence suggests that perhaps 53 or 56 Palestinians died in that fighting in Jenin.<br />ERAKAT: It depends—first of all, on the number 500, I said 500 but I said at the same time I cannot confirm them because I didn't have the chance to go and pull the rubble out and to clean the rubble out, and I don't know exactly, and I said I cannot confirm it.<br />But what defines a massacre? Israel called, when they had this bombing in the Netanya restaurant, 26 people, they called it a massacre. So what's a massacre?<br />"</ref>

Human Rights Watch found no evidence to sustain claims of massacres or large-scale extrajudicial executions by the IDF in Jenin refugee camp. However, many of the civilian deaths documented amounted to unlawful or willful killings by the IDF according to Human Rights Watch. Many others could have been avoided if the IDF had taken proper precautions to protect civilian life during its military operation, as required by international humanitarian law. Among the civilian deaths were those of Kamal Zgheir, a 57-year-old man who was shot and run over by a tank on a major road outside the camp on April 10, even though he had a white flag attached to his wheelchair; 58-year-old Mariam Wishahi, killed by a missile in her home on April 6 just hours after her unarmed son was shot in the street; Jamal Fayid, a 37-year-old paralyzed man who was crushed in the rubble of his home on April 7 despite his family's pleas to be allowed to remove him; and fourteen-year-old Faris Zaiban, who was killed by fire from an IDF armored car as he went to buy groceries when the IDF-imposed curfew was temporarily lifted on April 11.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.hrw.org/reports/2002/israel3/|title=Jenin: IDF Military Operations|access-date=19 December 2014 |publisher=Human Rights Watch}}</ref> Human Rights Watch stated that of at least 52 Palestinians were killed, at least 27 were suspected to have been armed Palestinian militants.

Multiple deaths were also caused by refusal (whether enforced by militia groups or voluntary is disputed) of Palestinian families to leave their houses, of which specific bulldozers, clearing the way for operations, were not alerted of on a house-to-house basis (See [[Gaza War (2008–2009)|Israel–Gaza war 2008–2009]] for similar issues; where IDF warnings were continually issued that specific houses carrying munitions were to be targeted, with Hamas response of forcing families to remain inside their houses.){{Citation needed|date=July 2011}}

Initially Israel welcomed an investigation, announcing that it would cooperate fully with the Secretary General's fact-finding effort. According to the United Jewish Communities, Israel made a number of points regarding the team's methodology, in order to "safeguard the impartiality of its work."<ref>[[United Jewish Communities]], 1 May 2002, [http://www.ujc.org/content_display.html?ArticleID=39626 The Israeli Cabinet Decision Regarding the UN Fact Finding Team] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051104033900/http://www.ujc.org/content_display.html?ArticleID=39626 |date=2005-11-04}}</ref> However, Israeli government receptivity to cooperating with the UN fact-finding mission decreased when the [[Secretary-General of the United Nations]], [[Kofi Annan]], did not appoint a predominantly technical team with specialized military and forensic expertise, but rather political-administrative figures without such specialized skills (including [[Cornelio Sommaruga]], controversial for previous "Red Swastika" remarks),<ref>''[[Jewish World Review]]'', 10 May 2002 [http://www.jewishworldreview.com/cols/krauthammer051002.asp "Kofi's Choice: The U.N. secretary general gets entangled in l'Affaire Sommaruga".]</ref> and after Palestinian officials reduced the casualty toll in Jenin on May 1, 2002<ref name="WashTimes0501">{{cite news |author=Martin, Paul |date=1 May 2002 |title=Jenin 'massacre' reduced to death toll of 56 |url=http://www.papillonsartpalace.com/jenin.htm |url-status=usurped |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927051933/http://www.papillonsartpalace.com/jenin.htm |archive-date=27 September 2007 |access-date=2007-09-17 |work=The Washington Times |page=01 |format=Reprint}}<br />Archived from Washington Times site; as retrieved from [http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_go1637/is_200205/ai_n6883602]{{dead link|date=March 2018|bot=InternetArchiveBot|fix-attempted=yes}} [http://osdir.com/ml/politics.communism.environmental/2002-05/msg00004.html] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070930024242/http://osdir.com/ml/politics.communism.environmental/2002-05/msg00004.html|date=2007-09-30}}[http://nucnews.net/nucnews/2002nn/0205nn/020501nn.htm#331] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100613015348/http://nucnews.net/nucnews/2002nn/0205nn/020501nn.htm#331|date=June 13, 2010}}</ref> to be between 50 and 60 deaths while Israel maintained there were only seven or eight civilian casualties. The charges of a massacre which had sparked demands for a U.N. investigation, had now been dropped. Kofi Annan disbanded the UN fact-finding team in Jenin supposed to determine whether a massacre had taken place with the comment that "[c]learly the full cooperation of both sides was a precondition for this, as was a visit to the area itself to see the Jenin refugee camp at first hand and to gather information. This is why the Secretariat engaged in a thorough clarification process with the Israeli delegation."<ref name="UNMay7" />

In 2002, [[Mohammed Bakri]], a prominent Arab actor and Israeli citizen, directed and produced a documentary ''[[Jenin, Jenin]]'', to portray "the Palestinian truth" about the Battle of Jenin. In the documentary Bakri propagates that indeed a massacre of civilians occurred in Jenin. A French Jewish film maker, [[Pierre Rehov]], also directed a documentary on what happened in Jenin during Defensive Shield. His film, ''[[The Road to Jenin]]'', was produced to counter the claims of a massacre, and to counter the narrative of Mohammed Bakri. [[Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America|CAMERA]] made a review of the two documentary films. According to the review, Bakri has admitted to shortening his film by 25 min in the wake of criticism.

====Reported first-hand allegations====
David Rohde of ''[[The New York Times]]'' on the April 16 reported:
{{quote |Saed Dabayeh, who said he stayed in the camp through the fighting, led a group of reporters to a pile of rubble where he said he watched from his bedroom window as Israeli soldiers buried 10 bodies. "There was a hole here where they buried bodies," he said. "And then they collapsed a house on top of it." The Palestinian accounts could not be verified. "The smell of decomposing bodies hung over at least six heaps of rubble today, and weeks of excavation may be needed before an accurate death toll can be made."<ref>David Rohde, ''[[The New York Times]]'', 16 April 2002, [https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C03E6DA113CF935A25757C0A9649C8B63 MIDEAST TURMOIL: THE AFTERMATH; The Dead and the Angry Amid Jenin's Rubble]</ref>}}

Stewart Bell of the ''[[National Post]]'' on the April 15 reported that [[Ahmed Tibi]], an Arab member of the Israeli [[Knesset]], said he had met hundreds of Palestinians displaced by what he termed the "massacre" in Jenin. According to Tibi, "Everyone has a tragedy, about executions they saw, about their whole family that was killed, about the most tangible concern—where is my family?" Bell reported that Jenin's population recounted "vivid accounts" of fighting and homes being demolished but first-hand accounts of massacres was scarce. One such rumor was a grocery store owner near Jenin who spoke of seeing Israeli troops using a refrigerated truck to hold the bodies of massacred Palestinians, which he said was still parked on a nearby hill. He refused to elaborate out of fear from "collaborators." Bell reported that a National Post reporter inspected the truck and found that it contained apples and other food for the Israeli soldiers.<ref name="NPost">{{cite news |title=What happened at Jenin? |last=Bell |first=Stewart |date=April 15, 2002 |work=National Post}}</ref>