Engineering Corps - which provided bulldozers and other assistance. Though Israel initially welcomed this mission, it later refused to cooperate, because the UN had decided to send a team of bureaucrats unacquainted with military conditions, who did not have the expertise to judge conditions realistically. Complete libraries and archives, including video and music archives, as well as equipment were looted, vandalized and destroyed. Following a particularly violent suicide bombing on June 1, 2001 that massacred 21 young people in the Tel Aviv Dolphinarium Discotheque (see Disco Bombing) and a second bombing at the Sbarro Pizza stand on August 9, 2001 in which 15 people were killed, there were rumors of a planned large scale Israeli attack on sources of the terror attacks in the West Bank. Ultimately, the Jenin incursion resulted in the deaths of 52 Palestinians. ", On April 13, Agence France Presse reported in the name of Palestinian Information Minister Yasser Abed Rabbo “that Israeli bulldozers had dug mass graves for around 500 Palestinians he said had been killed there, half of them women and children, he said.”, On April 14, Nabil Sha'ath told CNN’s Wolf Blitzer: “There has been a cover-up, and bodies have been taken away to clean up. According to Yediot Aharonot, Israel's refusal to allow Spanish EU officials Javier Solana and Josep Pique into the Mukataa to meet with Yasser Arafat, while allowing American envoy Anthony Zinni to enter, was the "straw that broke the camel's back". [2], Human Rights Watch determined that "Israeli forces committed serious violations of international humanitarian law, some amounting prima facie to war crimes. It was the center for coordinating and financing the Second Intifada, as proven by documents captured during Operation Defensive Shield. [9] Following nine attacks by Palestinian militants between March 2–5, the Israeli cabinet decided to massively expand its military activity against these groups. [37][38] He was left to die, bleeding in the square for hours. Numerous wanted terrorists were captured or killed, and as well as large quantities of arms and documents. A raid on Jibril Rajoub's Preventative Security headquarters in nearby Bitunia yielded copious incriminating documentation, including a plan by Rajoub to recruit Israeli women soldiers to spy for the Palestinians. Human Rights Watch found no evidence to sustain claims of massacres or large-scale extrajudicial executions by the IDF in Jenin refugee camp. A Tegart fort that had served as their headquarters was destroyed by an Israeli airstrike. [5], Operation "Defensive Shield" began on March 29, 2002, with an incursion into Ramallah placing Yasser Arafat under siege in his Ramallah compound, followed by incursions into the six largest cities in the West Bank, and their surrounding localities. 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. google_color_url = "008000"; 'a-notation used for Hebrew and Arabic ayin, a guttural ah sound. In the background the mosque. google_color_bg = "FFFFFF"; ch - (chaf) a sound like "ch" in loch or the Russian Kh as in Khruschev or German Ach, made by putting the tongue against the roof of the mouth. They were then given jumpsuits, loaded onto buses and taken to Ofer Prison. 2003 also saw a 35 percent drop in the number of fatalities from 220 deaths in 2002 to 142 deaths resulting from suicide bombings. Operation "Defensive Shield" (Hebrew: מבצע חומת מגן Mivtza Homat Magen, literally "Operation Defensive Wall") was a large-scale military operation conducted by the Israel Defense Forces in 2002 during the course of the Second Intifada.It was the largest military operation in the West Bank since the 1967 Six-Day War.The stated goal of the operation was to stop terrorist attacks. Over 20,000 Israeli reservists were activated during the conflict. It was soon evident that the entire camp was booby trapped, often with huge bombs. The IDF did not operate in Gaza during operation Defensive Shield. google_ad_channel = ""; CAMERA made a review of the two documentary films. Operation Defensive Shield, conducted by the … Belgian Foreign Minister Louis Michel also said that the EU could rethink its trade relations with Israel. Examples: 'hanukah, 'hamas, 'haredi. Ramallah was then placed under a tight curfew as soldiers conducted searches and made arrests. Something went wrong. Israel acceded to his request for a meeting with Yasser Arafat. [57] to be between 50-60 deaths while Israel maintained there were only seven or eight civilian casualties. According to Israel, five were civilians and the rest were militants. [26] The IDF slowly advanced into the city, encountering fierce resistance. Then you can start reading Kindle books on your smartphone, tablet, or computer - no Kindle device required. Among the civilian deaths were those of Kamal Zgheir, a fifty-seven-year-old wheelchair-bound 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; fifty-eight-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 [54] Human Rights Watch stated that of at least 52 Palestinians were killed, at least 27 were suspected to have been armed Palestinian militants. A bulldozer sent down the main street of Jenin detonated 124 such bombs in about 3/4 of a mile. Data captured during the raids facilitated capture of terrorists and thwarting of terror attacks in subsequent months. [citation needed], IDF forces including the Jerusalemite Reserve Infantry Brigade entered Jerusalem with infantry, warplanes, and tanks while a special forces Shaldag Unit targeted the Church of the Nativity to deny it to the people of Bethlehem as a place of refuge as it had been in the past. The orders are clear: target and paralyze anyone who takes up weapons and tries to oppose our troops, resists them or endangers them - and to avoid harming the civilian population." Tulkarm was quickly conquered by reserve paratroop battalion 55 with the help of an armored force. At the end of the action, a total of 497 Palestinians (by UN estimates) died, hundreds were captured, thousands were wounded. It condemned the "military escalation pursued by the Sharon government" and the "oppression of the Palestinian civilian population by the Israeli army", while also condemning suicide bombings. [signed] Yasser Arafat 5/4/01, The Central Office - Tulkarm - Telefax - 09-XXXXXXX, Additional documents are shown here: Documents Seized During Operation Defensive Shield, Contrary to popular opinion, Operation Defensive Shield did not eliminate terror in a single blow. Six other men were killed by the IDF during the siege. When the operation ended on April 21, Israel had destroyed the Palestinian economic and social infrastructure, leveled large swathes of residential area, killed 220 people, injured hundreds more and arrested thousands.