April 12, 2002 Posted: 9:35 AM EDT (1335 GMT)
Powell-Sharon meeting yields no pull back agreement
JERUSALEM (CNN) -- U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell, after meeting Friday with Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, said the two had not yet reached an agreement on a schedule to end the Israeli military operation in the Palestinian territories. "We don't have a specific timetable," said Powell. But Sharon did say he hopes to conclude what he called the war against the Palestinian "infrastructure of terrorism" shortly.
Powell is expected to hold a similar meeting with Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, who has been under siege for nearly two weeks at his West Bank compound in Ramallah, on Saturday. Shortly after the meeting, there were reports of a large explosion in Jerusalem. CNN's Jason Bellini was at the scene of the blast and reported seeing wounded people being taken away by ambulance. Israeli police said the explosion was an apparent act of terror which occurred just before the Jewish Sabbath.
Earlier, a senior Israeli army officer confirmed that hundreds of Palestinians had been injured or killed in the fierce fighting that accompanied Israel's incursion into the Jenin refugee camp. The Israel Defense Forces clarified that Brigadier-General Ron Kitrey was referring to the dead and wounded, not hundreds of deaths as initially reported, which Israel has put at 150 at most. The Israeli military said it did not know exactly how many Palestinians had been killed across the West Bank in its 16-day "Operation Defensive Shield." The IDF, which says the Israeli military is in full control of the Jenin refugee camp and the fighting there is over, said 30 Israeli soldiers have died as a result of the ongoing operation. Palestinian sources told CNN it would be impossible for the Palestinians to discuss a cease-fire with Powell "when our people are being massacred."
Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erakat claimed earlier this week that 500 Palestinians had been killed in Jenin and Nablus alone. Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Gideon Meir dismissed Erakat's estimate as inflated. He said that between 100 and 150 Palestinians had been killed and 95 percent of them had been Palestinian gunmen. Erakat said his estimate was based on reports from Palestinian officials in Jenin and from calls from a host of Palestinian families. "A real massacre was committed in the Jenin refugee camp," Erakat said. "I appeal to the secretary of state to go there to see for himself so as to enable bereaved families to bury their children -- their daughters , sons, husbands and wives -- who were massacred." In a statement, Brig. Gen. Eyal Shlein, the IDF commander at Jenin, said, "There was no massacre whatsoever. If we wanted to perform a massacre, we could have taken over the camp in one day. The IDF did not use artillery or aircraft." Erakat told CNN more than 300 Palestinians were being buried in mass graves in Jenin refugee camps, from which journalists have been barred. He urged Powell to visit the camp "and discover the massacres."
Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Gideon Meir dismissed Erakat's estimate as inflated, saying that only 100 to 150 Palestinians had been killed in Jenin, 95 percent of them gunmen. He also dismissed Erakat's assertion that bodies had been buried in mass graves. The Palestinians have refused the Israelis' request to remove their dead "because they want a story," Meir said. Israeli troops remained in the largest West Bank cities, though the area was calmer than in previous days. After his arrival, Powell flew by helicopter to Jerusalem to meet with U.S. Mideast envoy Anthony Zinni. The Israeli military operation that prompted Powell's trip began amid a series of suicide bombings that targeted Israeli civilians. Israeli forces have remained in Palestinian-controlled cities in the West Bank since then despite U.S. and international calls for a withdrawal. Meanwhile, Israeli tanks and military vehicles rolled into Bir Zeit, the West Bank's most prominent university town. Israeli forces also entered the West Bank town of Daharyeh near Hebron. There were no immediate reports of fighting in either location. IDF said the operations were part of the army's mission to locate terrorists and weapons. The United Nations said about 3,000 people in the Jenin refugee camp have been left homeless by the recent fighting. Besides Jenin, Israeli troops were still operating in the cities of Nablus, Ramallah and Bethlehem. Israeli forces have withdrawn from Tulkarem and Qalqilya but have encircled them.
Other developments
The humanitarian situation inside the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem is quickly deteriorating, according to a church official trying to negotiate an end to the standoff that has lasted more than a week at the holy site. He described the situation Thursday as a "volcano" that is "waiting to erupt." (Full story) Hezbollah guerrillas fired at Israeli positions Thursday on Mount Hermon and Har Dov in the disputed Shebaa Farms area on the Lebanon-Israel border, the IDF said. The IDF said its troops returned fire. The attack marks the 13th day that Israeli positions have been attacked along the border. The head of Hezbollah early Thursday offered to free an Israeli reserve officer abducted in October 2000 in exchange for Israel sparing 100 Palestinian fighters in Jenin. (Full story) Israeli forces entered the Ein Beit El Ma refugee camp near Nablus on Wednesday and arrested nearly 400 Palestinians -- some armed, according to the IDF. Israeli forces also arrested four Palestinian policemen Wednesday in Nablus, with a "considerable amount of weaponry" in their possession, the IDF reported. All the weapons were confiscated or destroyed.