GAZA CITY, 2 August — Palestinians yesterday called for an extraordinary session of the UN General Assembly to review a UN report that exonerated Israeli forces of perpetrating a massacre in the Jenin refugee camp.

The UN report, released earlier in the day, faulted Israel for not allowing access to rescue services during the Israeli operation in Jenin in late March but rejected charges of a massacre of civilians.

Rejecting the report, Nabil Abu Rudeina, a top aide to Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, said the Palestinian Authority wanted the General Assembly session with a view to “incriminating Israel”.

Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat admitted there was little chance of winning a change in the UN report’s wording. “How many civilians must be killed to speak of a massacre?” Erekat asked. “The Israeli massacre in Jenin’s refugee camp clearly happened and this is a war crime and crimes against humanity also took place,” he said. Erekat had accused Israel of killing up to 500 people in Jenin, a figure the UN report dismissed, saying 52 Palestinians and 23 Israeli soldiers died in the fighting. “The UN should have used the word ‘massacre’ or ‘war crime,’ especially because the Jenin camp is managed by the UN,” Erekat added.

The UN report faulted both Israel and the Palestinians for putting civilians in harm’s way. The report, based on second-hand information rather than an original investigation, which Israel rejected, makes few judgments and does not draw sweeping conclusions. It lists more Israeli than Palestinian abuses, especially Israel’s refusal to let humanitarian workers enter the camp.

The Israeli Foreign Ministry praised the report and said it cleared up a “misconception” there had been a massacre. Israel’s closest ally, the United States, said the “report indicates that the original claims of hundreds of deaths were overstated.”

“However, we are always concerned when there are any casualties and accusations that humanitarian assistance is thwarted,” said Richard Grenell, spokesman for US Ambassador John Negroponte.

In Washington, US President George W. Bush said he was “furious” over a bombing at Hebrew University in Jerusalem on Wednesday that killed seven people, including five US nationals. “I am just as angry as Israel,” Bush said in remarks before going into private talks with key Middle Eastern ally King Abdallah of Jordan. “I am furious. I am mad.” “We are responding to the murder of Americans,” Bush said. “We’re responding all across the globe to murders of Americans. We’re responding by working with our Arab friends, and Israel, of course, to track these people down.”

Bush said Israel has a right to defend itself. “But as I say to all parties involved: We must keep the vision of peace in mind. We must be committed to peace.”

In the Gaza Strip city of Khan Yunis, a nine-year-old Palestinian girl was shot dead last night by Israeli troops. The killing occurred opposite the Gush Katif bloc of Jewish settlements, Palestinian security sources said. Asmaa Ahmed Tahsine was killed in a taxi, they said.

Earlier in the day, the Israeli Army destroyed two Palestinian houses. One was the family home in Beit Jala of the Palestinian teenager who blew himself up in Jerusalem on Tuesday, injuring seven people. The other was the home of an Islamic Jihad activist in the Jenin refugee camp.

The Israeli Security Cabinet met Wednesday to consider new ways of countering renewed attacks. Officials said the new tactics could include punitive demolition of the homes of Palestinian activists and possible banishment of their relatives to the Gaza Strip.