Kessel: Rare agreement by Israel, Palestinians

Kessel: "While both sides are saying they welcome [the U.N. probe], of course they have very different agendas."

JERUSALEM (CNN) -- The Israeli military's operation in Jenin caused an uproar in the Arab world -- and blunt denials in Israel itself -- and led to a unanimous U.N. decision to investigate the incident.

CNN correspondent Jerrold Kessel talked with Anchor Kyra Phillips on Saturday about the West Bank battle, the U.N. resolution and the sentiment in Israel and the Palestinian territories.

KYRA PHILLIPS: Last night the United Nations Security Council unanimously agreed to investigate the Israeli attack on Jenin. Humanitarian officials describe the refugee camp as a horrifying scene that resembles an earthquake zone, with residents digging through rubble in search of loved ones and the stench of death everywhere.

The U.S. had initially opposed an Arab-drafted measure, but the U.S. relented after Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres invited U.N. Security-General Kofi Annan to send investigators. Israel says it has nothing to hide. Palestinians accuse Israel of massacre.

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Let's get reaction now on the U.N. vote from our Jerrold Kessel, live from Jerusalem.

JERROLD KESSEL: This is really an interesting development. It is not too often these days that you hear Israelis and Palestinians saying they welcome the same thing. But, in fact, that's what's happened.

The Israelis say they are perfectly willing to work with a fact-finding mission sent by the United Nations. This was facilitated -- the 15 to 0 vote at the U.N. Security Council -- after Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres said up front in a conversation with Kofi Annan, the U.N. secretary-general, that Israel would be perfectly amenable to such a fact-finding mission sent to the Jenin refugee camp.

The Israelis are saying that they will work with that fact-finding mission when it arrives. Having said that, while both sides are saying they welcome this development, of course they have very different agendas.

The Israelis say they have nothing to hide, and it will be a good occasion to prove their point that the deaths in the camp on the Palestinian side were [the result of] severe fighting ... as they went after the Palestinian gunmen -- the terrorists, as the Israelis call them.

The Palestinians, however, say that this is an important development, a step forward toward the possibility that criminal and charges will be pressed against even [Israeli Prime Minister] Ariel Sharon or the Israeli military [for] committing war crimes in the camp.

Nonetheless, both sides are at least welcoming this development, which to a degree takes the heat out of the argument that continues to rage though about what precisely went on in the camp and, more specifically, how many people died there.

The Israelis have said that more than 20 of their soldiers were killed in Jenin. There was a question of how many Palestinians died and of their identity. Were they the gunmen? Were they civilians? So far, 43 bodies have been brought to the Jenin hospital and buried, and the search continues.

But there are still question marks. The Palestinian doctors say that they believe the death toll will finally top at least 200. Israel has said that it will be around 60 to 70. ... So that argument is continuing, even as people continue to search for their loved ones and for others who might be buried under the rubble.

Another interesting development this morning is that U.S. Undersecretary of State William Burns went to the camp and made a statement there. He visited the scene as people were digging under the rubble.

Burns said it's obvious that what happened here in the Jenin camp has caused enormous human suffering for thousands of Palestinian civilians. I think what we're seeing here is a terrible human tragedy.

The U.S. envoy very much stressed the suffering of the civilians. [He said] that ... without offering any judgment on whether others were in the camp as part of the battle.