Two Dutch forensic experts who examined corpses in the Palestinian refugee camp of Jenin today rejected claims of a bloodbath but accused the Israeli army of human rights abuses.
"The Israeli army did not cause a bloodbath in Jenin and other Palestinian cities. There were large-scale violations of human rights perpetrated by the army," said doctors Mr Barend Cohen and Mr Max Meis, who were sent to the camp by Dutch humanitarian organisation Cordaid.
They said Israel had refused to allow dead or wounded to be moved and prevented the supply of food, drinking water and medicine to the area, during the Israeli nine-day offensive at the camp that ended on April 12th.
The Dutch forensic experts went to Jenin on Saturday where they examined 23 bodies, and also visited Ramallah and Nablus, Cordaid said in a statement. They are also planning to visit Hebron, where the Israeli army launched an onslaught that has cost the lives of eight Palestinians.
Mr Cohen said he could not determine whether most of those killed in Jenin were civilians, as claimed by the Palestinians, and called for further investigations.
The UN Security Council is currently involved in a standoff with Israel over its determination to send a fact-finding mission to Jenin despite Israel's refusal to accept it.
Mr Cohen is a professor of clinical forensic science and a faculty member of the Netherlands School of Public Health in Utrecht. He has experience in fact-finding missions in Bosnia and Rwanda. Mr Meis is also a clinical forensic scientist and works for the health department in the northern Dutch city of Groningen.
AFP