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FM Peres on the Fighting in Jenin
(Communicated by the Foreign Minister's Bureau)
April 14, 2002
Today (14 April), following the memorial ceremony for fallen Foreign
Service personnel, which took place at the Foreign Ministry, Israeli
Foreign Minister Shimon Peres stated that many buildings were
demolished in Jenin because the terrorists had wired them with
explosives. "There wasn't a house that wasn't booby-trapped" Peres
said, "and there was no way to neutralize the danger without
demolishing the structure."
"We also encountered booby-trapped men, Palestinians who raised their
hands to surrender while wearing explosive vests, in an attempt to
detonate themselves among our soldiers."
"It was very bitter combat. We lost 23 soldiers, which indicates that
this was a difficult operation, in which the Palestinians did their
maximum to inflict as many casualties as they could."
"The Israel Defense forces received clear instructions to avoid
harming civilians, and that is exactly what they did," Peres stated.
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