Jenin is a city of the dead. That is how a 14-year old Palestinian boy recently described his home to a “Times of London” reporter. In the last two days, reports of horrific violence and human rights abuses have been seeping out of Jenin. There are stories of soldiers using the elderly as human shields, of women and children being rounded up, of men being shot in the head, execution-style, and of missiles “falling like rain.”

The Associated Press is reporting that the Israeli government is censoring reports on Jenin, and Israeli forces are not allowing ambulances into the camp. So there is no confirmed body count available, but estimates range from 100 to 300 Palestinians have been killed.

Yesterday, 13 reserve soldiers were killed in an ambush. According to the Israeli Ha’aretz, their deaths bring the number of Israelis killed in Jenin to 23.

The Ha’aretz also reports Foreign Minister Shimon Peres is privately referring to the killing in Jenin as a “massacre.”

Guests:

• Kamel Jaber, Jenin citizen whose home overlooks the Jenin refugee camp
• Ali, a Palestinian from a village next to Jenin speaking to us from inside Yasser Arafat’s compound. Ali has been unable to reach his family for 6 days.