The IDF now estimates that 45 Palestinians were killed in ten days of fierce fighting in Jenin, a sharp reduction from previous estimates of more than 100. Comments made by IDF Spokesman Brig.-Gen. Ron Kitrey to Israel Radio on Friday suggesting that "hundreds of Palestinians" were killed in Jenin, were later clarified as referring to hundreds of casualties, including those killed or injured in the clashes there. Sunday evening, the IDF estimated that 277 Palestinians were injured in Jenin. Overall, in the two-week Operation Defensive Shield, the IDF said that about 188 Palestinians were killed and 599 wounded.

The army's battle against Palestinian gunmen entrenched in the Jenin refugee camp was reportedly the most complicated and difficult mission facing Israeli troops operating against terrorist infrastructure in Operation Defensive Shield. 23 Israeli soldiers were killed during the house-to-house battles in the camp, accounting for all but 6 of IDF deaths in the Operation.

"Most of the Palestinians that were killed were armed terrorists; many had explosive devices strapped to their bodies," said Col. Gal Hirsh, head of operations in the Central Command at a briefing on Friday. "I regret that some Palestinian civilians were injured and some were killed. We were fighting against armed terrorists. We asked the Palestinian civilians to evacuate their homes so they would not get hurt; some chose not to."

"The IDF did not use artillery or aircraft," said Brig.-Gen. Eyal Shlein, head of army operations in the Jenin camp. "The IDF is one of the most humanitarian armies in the world. It is important to emphasize that whoever uses women, children and the elderly as defensive shields - would pay a price for doing so." Shlein added, "We uncovered large quantities of arms, ammunition, explosives, and bombs, as well as dozens of laboratories where bombs were made."

Defense Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer said Sunday that the army has discovered 26 bodies in the Jenin camp, and 23 of them were wearing uniforms and were armed. "We did not bury a single body, certainly not in mass graves," Ben-Eliezer said, Israel Radio reported.

Supreme Court rejects appeals to prevent burial of Palestinian corpses
Israel's High Court of Justice today rejected three petitions calling for the Israel Defense Forces to refrain from removing for burial the bodies of Palestinians killed in gun battles with Israeli soldiers in the Jenin refugee camp. The court decided that the army would be accompanied by representatives of the International Red Cross and the Palestinian Red Crescent Society to ensure that Palestinians killed in the camp would be buried in a respectful manner.

Late Friday, High Court Chief Justice Aharon Barak issued an interim injunction temporarily halting army efforts to remove the bodies of unidentified terrorists for burial in a Jordan Valley cemetery for fallen enemy soldiers. Petitions were presented to the court by MK Mohammad Barakeh, MK Ahmad Tibi, Adalah and Palestinian human rights organization LAW.

The petitioners demanded that access to the camp be granted to health care representatives to remove bodies to hospitals for identification purposes, and to allow burials to be conducted in a respectful manner by family members of the deceased. The army was accused of using bulldozers to bury terrorists and civilians in mass graves in the Jenin refugee camp.

Palestinians alleged that Israel massacred people in the camp and used a bulldozer to push the bodies into a mass grave. Israeli officials accused Palestinian authorities of refusing to take the bodies in hopes of embarrassing Israel.

In his radio interview, Kitrey repeated Israel's denial of a mass burial and a massacre. "We made it clear to the Palestinians that if they don't bury their dead, we will be forced to bury them ourselves to prevent disease and guard the respect for the dead," he said.

"The IDF's refusal to bring the dead to a speedy and respectful burial… is an outrageous act, based on a revengeful attitude devoid of any human emotion, and without any defense justification," said Adalah staff attorney Jamil Dakwar.

IDF officers said that the delay in removing the bodies could endanger the lives of soldiers operating in the camp. "Every delay allows the terrorists more time to get organized to attack us," one reserves officer told Yediot Aharonot. Military sources have raised the possibility that terrorists may have booby-trapped many of the bodies, and therefore only soldiers should handle their removal.

Journalists: Destruction in camp, but no signs of "massacre"
During and immediately after the intense gun battles in the Jenin refugee camp, the IDF forbid journalists from entering the area, resulting in Palestinian claims that the army was trying to "hide the evidence" of what occurred there. "It's a combat zone. The armed Palestinians are firing at everyone, including at journalists," Hirsh said.

Media analysts suggested that the delay in reporting from the camp caused serious damage to Israel's image, and that the success, or failure, of Operation Defensive Shield was dependent on how the Jenin refugee camp battles were perceived in the world.

"A public relations struggle is under way over this ruined place," the New York Times reported. "The battle for the Jenin camp is already becoming another significant, harshly contested episode in the history of both peoples."

The first eyewitness reports of Israeli and international reporters began filtering into the media over the weekend. "The fighting caused vast destruction to the camp and severe harm and misfortune to the civilian population, and even resulted in many civilian casualties," wrote Tzadok Yehezkeli in Yediot Aharonot. "Dozens of bodies are decaying in homes, but at this stage there is no evidence for the mass massacre of civilians as claimed by the Palestinians."

"The destruction inside is immense," wrote Yoav Limor in Maariv. "Almost in every house a battle took place. On the walls that are still standing are the remnants of explosive blasts and gunfire… Instead of narrow alleyways, paths have been created for tanks and armored personnel carriers. Everything that was in the way was crushed - electricity poles, fences, sidewalks and also houses that interfered with traffic."

A Reuters news team reported, "The contorted bodies of four Palestinian men lay blackened by decomposition in the ruins of a living room, apparently devastated by a missile." But the team also reported "a helmet on the head of one body, and several Molotov cocktail canisters, apparently intended for Israeli troops advancing through the alleyways, were seen partially hidden under a coat near the front door."

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