Illegal Israeli actions in OPT – Letter from Palestine

Identical letters dated 10 September 2003 from the Permanent Observer of Palestine to the United Nations addressed to the Secretary-General and the President of the Security Council

In yet another attempted extrajudicial execution, war planes of Israel, the occupying Power, today bombed the home of Mr. Mahmoud Al-Zahar, wounding him and killing two people, including his 26-year-old son, and wounding more than 20 other civilians, including his wife. The bombing completely also destroyed Mr. Al-Zahar’s home, which was located in the densely populated Rimal neighborhood of Gaza City, and caused extensive damage to several adjacent homes as well. This attempted extrajudicial execution represents the eighth such attack committed by the Israeli occupying forces in the past three weeks alone. The continuation of this criminal and insane Israeli policy threatens to bring the situation to a catastrophic precipice.

In addition to today’s bombing, the Israeli occupying forces yesterday, in the pre-dawn hours, raided the Palestinian city of Al-Khalil, laying siege to an apartment building, firing tank shells and killing three Palestinians and later demolishing the entire building. One of the Palestinians killed was a 13-year-old boy, Thaer Mansour Al-Siouri, who died after he was hit in the face by shrapnel from the tank fire. It has been reported that the occupying forces also used several Palestinian civilians as “human shields” during that same raid.

The deterioration of the situation on the ground was further hastened yesterday when, fulfilling their threats to respond to the continuous Israeli attacks, two suicide bombings were committed by Palestinian groups, the first near Tel Aviv and the second in West Jerusalem, killing several Israelis. Yesterday, the Palestinian leadership firmly condemned both of these bombings and reiterated its call for the complete cessation of such acts.

As the death toll continues to mount and the situation continues to perilously decline, it is imperative that measures be undertaken to bring this vicious cycle to an end. At the same time, in this regard, efforts to reach a peaceful settlement between the two sides must be urgently revived. The Palestinian-Israeli conflict is at a critical juncture that clearly requires immediate and serious action by the international community.

This letter is in follow-up to our previous 172 letters to you regarding the ongoing crisis in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, since 28 September 2000. These letters, dated from 29 September 2000 (A/55/432-S/2000/921) to 8 September 2003 (A/ES-10/235-S/2003/865) constitute a basic record of the crimes committed by the Israeli occupying forces against the Palestinian people since September 2000. For all of these war crimes, State terrorism and systematic human rights violations committed against the Palestinian people, Israel, the occupying Power, must be held accountable and the perpetrators must be brought to justice.

Accordingly, in follow-up to the above-mentioned letters, it is my regret to inform you that, since my last letter, at least six Palestinians, including one child, have been killed by the Israeli occupying forces, raising the total number of martyrs to 2,533 Palestinians. (The names of the martyrs that have been identified thus far are contained in the annex to the present letter.)

I would be grateful if you would arrange to have the text of the present letter and its annex distributed as a document of the tenth emergency special session of the General Assembly, under agenda item 5, and of the Security Council.

( Signed) Dr. Nasser Al-Kidwa
Ambassador
Permanent Observer of Palestine to the United Nations

Annex to the identical letters dated 10 September 2003 from the Permanent Observer of Palestine to the United Nations addressed to the Secretary-General and the President of the Security Council

Names of martyrs killed by Israeli occupying forces in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including Jerusalem *

    (Tuesday, 9 September 2003, to Wednesday, 10 September 2003)

    Tuesday, 9 September 2003

1.   Thaer Mansour Al-Siouri (13 years old)

2.  Ahmed Othman Shafik Badir

3.  Izzedine Khadir Misk

4.  Ammar Abu Warda

    Wednesday, 10 September 2003

1.  Khaled Mahmoud Al-Zahar 

2.   Shihdeh Yousef Al-Deri

_________

 *   The total number of Palestinian martyrs killed by Israeli occupying forces since 28 September 2000 is 2,533.

_________