Editing Second Intifada (section)

====Battle of Jenin====
{{Main|Battle of Jenin (2002)}}
[[File:IDF-D9L003.jpg|thumb|[[IDF Caterpillar D9]]]]

Between 2 and 11 April, a siege and fierce fighting took place in the Palestinian refugee camp of the city of [[Jenin]]. The camp was targeted during Operation Defensive Shield after Israel determined that it had "served as a launch site for numerous terrorist attacks against both Israeli civilians and Israeli towns and villages in the area."<ref name="mfa1">{{cite web |title=Jenin's Terrorist Infrastructure |publisher=[[Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Israel)|Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs]] |access-date=22 September 2008 |date=4 April 2002 |url=http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/MFAArchive/2000_2009/2002/4/Jenin-s%20Terrorist%20Infrastructure%20-%204-Apr-2002 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090218182029/http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/MFAArchive/2000_2009/2002/4/Jenin-s%20Terrorist%20Infrastructure%20-%204-Apr-2002 |archive-date=18 February 2009 }}</ref> The Jenin battle became a flashpoint for both sides, and saw fierce urban combat as Israeli infantry supported by armor and attack helicopters fought to clear the camp of Palestinian militants. The battle was eventually won by the IDF, after it employed a dozen [[IDF Caterpillar D9|Caterpillar D9]] [[armored bulldozer]]s to clear Palestinian [[booby trap]]s, detonate explosive charges, and raze buildings and gun-posts; the bulldozers proved impervious to attacks by Palestinian militants.<ref>{{cite magazine |author=Matt Rees |url=http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1002406,00.html |title=Untangling Jenin's Tale |magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]] |date=13 May 2002 |access-date=28 September 2014 |author-link=Matt Rees |archive-date=26 October 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141026160651/http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1002406,00.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

During Israeli military operations in the camp, Palestinian sources alleged that a massacre of hundreds of people had taken place. A senior Palestinian Authority official said in mid-April that some 500 had been killed.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/2165272.stm |title=UN says no massacre in Jenin |date=1 August 2002 |work=BBC News |access-date=19 May 2012 |archive-date=5 December 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061205040128/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/2165272.stm |url-status=live }}</ref> During the fighting in Jenin, Israeli officials had also initially estimated hundreds of Palestinian deaths, but later said they expected the Palestinian toll to reach "45 to 55."<ref name="NYT UN">{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2002/08/02/world/death-on-the-campus-jenin-un-report-rejects-claims-of-a-massacre-of-refugees.html |last=Bennet |first=James |author-link=James Bennet (journalist) |date=2 August 2002 |title=Death on the Campus: Jenin; U.N. Report Rejects Claims of a Massacre of Refugees |work=[[The New York Times]] |access-date=19 May 2012 |archive-date=11 December 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191211044050/https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9D04E6DD1E3BF931A3575BC0A9649C8B63 |url-status=live }}</ref> In the ensuing controversy, Israel blocked the United Nations from conducting the first-hand inquiry unanimously sought by the Security Council, but the UN nonetheless felt able to dismiss claims of a massacre in its report, which said there had been approximately 52 deaths, criticising both sides for placing Palestinian civilians at risk.<ref name="NYT UN"/><ref>{{cite news |title=U.N. report: No massacre in Jenin |url=http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/world/2002-08-01-unreport-jenin_x.htm |agency=[[Associated Press]] |work=[[USA Today]] |date=1 August 2002 |access-date=28 September 2014 |archive-date=23 June 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150623064530/http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/world/2002-08-01-unreport-jenin_x.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> Based on their own investigations, [[Amnesty International]]<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/mde15/149/2002/en/ |title=Shielded from Scrutiny: IDF violations in Jenin and Nablus |date=November 2002 |publisher=[[Amnesty International]] |page=2 |access-date=19 May 2012 |quote=Amnesty International's extensive research ... led it to conclude that ... some of the actions amounted to ... war crimes. |archive-date=22 November 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181122054904/https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/mde15/149/2002/en/ |url-status=live }}</ref> and [[Human Rights Watch]]<ref name="HRW May">{{cite web |url=https://www.hrw.org/reports/2002/israel3/israel0502.pdf |title=Jenin: IDF Military Operations |date=May 2002 |publisher=[[Human Rights Watch]] |access-date=19 May 2012 |page=3 |quote=Human Rights Watch's research demonstrates that, during their incursion into the Jenin refugee camp, Israeli forces committed serious violations of international humanitarian law, some amounting ''prima facie'' to war crimes. |archive-date=11 October 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121011222710/http://www.hrw.org/reports/2002/israel3/israel0502.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> charged that some IDF personnel in Jenin had committed [[war crimes]] but also confirmed that no massacre had been committed by the IDF. Both human rights organizations called for official inquiries; the IDF disputed the charges.

After the battle, most sources, including the IDF and [[Palestinian Authority]], placed the Palestinian death toll at 52–56;<ref name=martinWT>{{cite news |url=http://www.washingtontimes.com/world/20020501-5587072.htm |title=Jenin 'massacre' reduced to death toll of 56 |author=Paul Martin |newspaper=[[The Washington Times]] |date=1 May 2002 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030415055238/http://www.washingtontimes.com/world/20020501-5587072.htm |archive-date=15 April 2003}}</ref> [[Human Rights Watch]] documented 52 Palestinian deaths and claimed that it included at least 27 militants and 22 civilians, and an additional 3 Palestinians whose status as militants or civilians could not be ascertained,<ref name="hrwreport">{{cite web |url=https://www.hrw.org/node/79081/section/3 |title=Jenin |website=[[Human Rights Watch]] |date=2 May 2002 |access-date=28 September 2014 |archive-date=26 September 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140926080324/http://www.hrw.org/node/79081/section/3 |url-status=live }}</ref> while the IDF said that 48 militants and 5 civilians had been killed.<ref name="harel257-258">{{cite book |last1=Harel |first1=Amos |last2=Issacharoff |first2=Avi |date=2004 |script-title=he:המלחמה השביעית : איך ניצחנו ולמה הפסדנו במלחמה עם הפלסטינים |trans-title=The Seventh War: How We Won and Why We Lost in the War with the Palestinians |title=Ha-Milḥamah ha-shevi'it: ekh nitsaḥnu ṿe-lamah hifsadnu ba-milḥamah 'im ha-Palesṭinim |publisher=Yediot Aharonot |location=Tel-Aviv |isbn=978-965-511-767-7 |language=he |pages=257–258}}</ref> According to Human Rights Watch, 140 buildings had been destroyed.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Audeh |first=Ida |year=2002 |title=Narratives of Siege: Eye-Witness Testimonies from Jenin, Bethlehem, and Nablus |url=http://www.palestine-studies.org/journals.aspx?id=4341&jid=1&href=abstract |journal=[[Journal of Palestine Studies]] |volume=31 |issue=4 |page=13 |access-date=7 April 2012 |doi=10.1525/jps.2002.31.4.13 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101228205343/http://palestine-studies.org/journals.aspx?id=4341&jid=1&href=abstract |archive-date=28 December 2010  |issn=0377-919X }}</ref> The IDF reported that 23 Israeli soldiers had been killed and 75 wounded during the battle.<ref name="HRW May"/><ref>{{cite web |title=Report of the Secretary-General prepared pursuant to General Assembly resolution ES-10/10 |access-date=29 March 2006 |publisher=[[United Nations]] |url=https://www.un.org/peace/jenin/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20020806175121/http://www.un.org/peace/jenin/ |archive-date=6 August 2002}}</ref>