One reason why the allegations about houses being flattened with families inside them are being treated as credible is because that is exactly what happened in the first serious war crime alleged against Sharon, back in 1953 in the village of Qibya.

The strenuous efforts made by the attacking forces in Jenin to keep away any outside observers have also fed suspicions. And have made it a lot harder to disprove the suspicions, if they are ungrounded.