Yesterday, U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell said that there was no evidence that IDF forces carried out a massacre in Jenin. Powell, speaking before the Senate Appropriations Foreign Operations subcommittee, said that, \"Clearly people died in Jenin, people who were terrorists died in Jenin and in the prosecution of that battle innocent lives may well have been lost…Right now I\'ve seen no evidence of mass graves and I\'ve seen no evidence that would suggest a massacre took place.\" Powell based his comments on a meeting that he had with US Assistant Secretary of State William Burns who paid a visit to Jenin following Israel’s Operation Defensive Shield concluded in the town.
Despite Powell’s comments, PLO officials continue to claim that Israel carried out a massacre in Jenin. However, according to an April 22nd report featured on CNN’s website (CNN.com), a senior member of Palestinian Islamic Jihad who surrendered to Israeli forces in Jenin describes the battle that took place there as \"a very hard fight” in which both sides took casualties, but added that he didn\'t see “tens of people” killed by the Israeli army.
Despite Powell’s comments, PLO officials continue to claim that Israel carried out a massacre in Jenin. However, according to an April 22nd report featured on CNN’s website (CNN.com), a senior member of Palestinian Islamic Jihad who surrendered to Israeli forces in Jenin describes the battle that took place there as \"a very hard fight” in which both sides took casualties, but added that he didn\'t see “tens of people” killed by the Israeli army.