New Violence Flares in Mideast as Israelis Pull Out of Jenin
Describing a visit to the Jenin camp, the United Nations envoy to the Middle East, Terje Roed-Larsen, said at a news conference here today: "We saw children looking for their parents. We saw fathers, brothers, sisters digging in the rubble in order to find the corpses of their dear ones."

Surveying the wreckage at the camp on Thursday, Mr. Roed-Larsen called the scene "horrifying beyond belief."

"Combating terrorism does not give a blank check to kill civilians," he said, angering Israeli officials who said the envoy had seemed to ignore the deaths of Israelis there.

Also today the United Nations high commissioner for human rights, Mary Robinson, said in Geneva that a fact-finding mission to the West Bank and Gaza Strip would not proceed after Israel had refused to give it the necessary help.

But in a statement, Ms. Robinson said she would still draw up a report on the "deteriorating situation" in the occupied Palestinian territories and present it to the United Nations' top human rights forum next week.

In London, Amnesty International said there was evidence that Israel's military operation in Jenin had breached international law and it called for an inquiry into accusations of human rights abuses against Palestinians.

Israeli officials said that by Sunday their forces would leave other West Bank cities and towns they have occupied, with the exceptions of Ramallah and Bethlehem, where they have besieged wanted men.

With the Jenin camp in tatters and Israeli forces still ranging through other Palestinian-controlled areas, Palestinian leaders expressed shock on Thursday, and Israeli officials expressed satisfaction, over a statement by President Bush that Mr. Sharon was "a man of peace."
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/04/19/international/19CND-MIDE.html