A UN report on the Israeli military attack on the Palestinian refugee camp at Jenin says there is no evidence it was a deliberate massacre of hundreds of innocent civilians.
It says that in Jenin, 52 Palestinian deaths had been confirmed by April 18th, and that up to half may have been civilians.
A total of 26 Israeli soldiers died during the assault on Jenin.
But it criticises both sides for putting civilians "in harm's way" during the attack in March.
The report accuses Israel of delaying aid and medical help to Palestinians in the camp. It also claims Palestinian militants deliberately put its fighters and equipment in civilian areas contrary to international law.
Violence in Jenin came during an Israeli offensive begun on March 29th in response to a suicide bombing that killed 29 Israelis. The heaviest fighting during the period was in the Jenin camp, where the Palestinians said Israeli attacks killed 500 people.
The long-awaited report says that between March 1st and the beginning of May, 497 Palestinians were killed during Israel's "Operation Defensive Shield" in the West Bank.
That figure was almost double the death toll of 262 reported by the Red Crescent Society in the Palestinian territories for the same period.
It calls the Palestinian allegation that some 500 were killed "a figure that has not been substantiated in the light of evidence that has emerged".
AP