Illegal Israeli actions in OPT – Letter from Palestine

Identical letters dated 3 June 2002 from the Permanent Observer of

Palestine to the United Nations addressed to the Secretary-General

and the President of the Security Council

For the past three days, Israeli occupying forces have raided and reoccupied the Palestinian city of Nablus and the refugee camps of Balata and Askar in the Occupied Palestinian Territory. The Israeli occupying forces imposed a curfew for long hours and rounded up hundreds of Palestinians in mass arbitrary detention. The occupying forces also caused further destruction to structures, including homes, in those areas. A few days ago, the Israeli occupying forces also raided and reoccupied the city of Bethlehem and carried out similar actions. Israeli incursions also took place in parts of the cities of Tulkarem and Ramallah. All this while the Israeli occupying forces have been attempting to institutionalize the situation resulting from the Israeli military assault against the Palestinian people that began on 29 March 2002, through the creation of several isolated areas and the re-emergence of the civil administration of the Israeli military government.

Furthermore, Israeli occupying forces committed another crime by intentionally causing serious damage, through the use of explosives, to the Church of Al-Barbara in the town of Aboud. The Church is situated on land belonging to the Roman Orthodox Church and is considered to be one of the oldest churches in the world. We strongly condemn such a criminal action, which represents yet another serious violation of international law and international humanitarian law by the Israeli occupying forces.

In follow-up to my previous 121 letters to you regarding the ongoing crisis in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including Jerusalem, dated from 29 September 2000 to 20 May 2002 (A/55/432-S/2000/921; A/55/437-S/2000/930; A/55/450-S/2000/957; A/55/466-S/2000/971; A/55/474-S/2000/984; A/55/490-S/2000/993; A/ES-10/39-S/2000/1015; A/ES-10/40-S/2000/1025; A/ES-10/42-S/2000/1068; A/ES-10/43-S/2000/1078; A/ES-10/44-S/2000/1093; A/ES-10/45-S/2000/1104; A/ES-10/46-S/2000/1107; A/ES-10/47-S/2000/1116; A/ES-10/48-S/2000/1129; A/ES-10/49-S/2000/1154; A/ES-10/50-S/2000/1173; A/ES-10/51-S/2000/1185; A/ES-10/52-S/2000/1215; A/ES-10/53-S/2000/1247; A/ES-10/54-S/2001/7; A/ES-10/55-S/2001/33; A/ES/10/56-S/2001/50, A/ES-10/57-S/2001/101; A/ES-10/58-S/2001/131 A/ES-10/59-S/2001/156;  A/ES-10/60-S/2001/175; A/ES-10/61-S/2001/189; A/ES-10/64-S/2001/209;  A/ES-10/65-S/2001/226; A/ES-10/66-S/2001/239; A/ES-10/67-S/2001/255; A/ES-10/68-S/2001/284; A/ES-10/69-S/2001/295; A/ES-10/70-S/2001/304; A/ES-10/71-S/2001/314; A/ES-10/72-S/2001/332; A/ES-10/75-S/2001/352; A/ES-10/76-S/2001/372; A/ES-10/79-S/2001/418; A/ES-10/80-S/2001/432; A/ES-10/81-S/2001/447; A/ES-10/82-S/2001/463; A/ES-10/83-S/2001/471; A/ES-10/84-S/2001/479; A/ES-10/85-S/2001/486; A/ES-10/86-S/2001/496

; A/ES-10/87-S/2001/504; A/ES-10/88-S/2001/508; A/ES-10/89-S/2001/544; A/ES-10/90-S/2001/586; A/ES-10/91-S/2001/605; A/ES-10/92-S/2001/629; A/ES-10/93-S/2001/657; A/ES-10/94-S/2001/669; A/ES-10/95-S/2001/686; A/ES-10/96-S/2001/697; A/ES-10/97-S/2001/708; A/ES-10/98-S/2001/717; A/ES-10/99-S/2001/742; A/ES-10/100-S/2001/754; A/ES-10/101-S/2001/783; A/ES-10/102-S/2001/785; A/ES-10/103-S/2001/798; A/ES-10/104-S/2001/812; A/ES-10/105-S/2001/814; A/ES-10/107-S/2001/821; A/ES-10/108-S/2001/826; A/ES-10/110-S/2001/855; A/ES-10/111-S/2001/880; A/ES-10/112-S/2001/918; A/ES-10/114-S/2001/928; A/ES-10/115-S/2001/932; A/ES-10/116-S/2001/941; A/ES-10/117-S/2001/971; A/ES-10/118-S/2001/989; A/ES-10/119-S/2001/991; A/ES-10/121-S/2001/1007; A/ES-10/122-S/2001/1024; A/ES-10/123-S/2001/1036; A/ES-10/124-S/2001/1084; A/ES-10/125-S/2001/1092; A/ES-10/126-S/2001/1118; A/ES-10/128-S/2001/1149; A/ES-10/129-S/2001/1166; A/ES-10/133-S/2001/1239, A/ES-10/134-S/2001/1261, A/ES-10/136-S/2002/18, A/ES-10/137-S/2002/39, A/ES-10/138-S/2002/48, A/ES-10/139-S/2002/58, A/ES-10/140-S/2002/89, A/ES-10/141-S/2002/95, A/ES-10/142-S/2002/102, A/ES-10/143-S/2002/121, A/ES-10/144-S/2002/142, A/ES-10/145-S/2002/146, A/ES-10/146-S/2002/165; A/ES-10/147-S/2002/175; A/ES-10/148-S/2002/182

, A/ES-10/149-S/2002/190, A/ES-10/150-S/2002/214 A/ES-10/151-S/2002/223; A/ES-10/152-S/2002/232; A/ES-10/154-S/2002/242, A/ES-10/155-S/2002/248, A/ES-10/156-S/2002/249, A/ES-10/157-S/2002/253; A/ES-10/158-S/2002/258; A/ES-10/159-S/2002/281; A/ES-10/160-S/2002/307; A/ES-10/161-S/2002/319; A/ES-10/162-S/2002/330; A/ES-10/163-S/2002/340; A/ES-10/164-S/2002/353; A/ES-10/165-S/2002/356; A/ES-10/166-S/2002/370; A/ES/10/167-S/2002/433; A/ES-10/168-S/2002/474; A/ES-10/169-S/2002/495; A/ES-10/173-S/2002/536 and  A/ES-10/174-S/2002/555), I regret to inform you that, since my last letter to you, at least 28 Palestinians have been killed by the Israeli occupying forces. This raises the total number of Palestinians killed by the occupying forces to 1,548 martyrs. The annex to the present letter contains the names of the martyrs that have thus far been identified, and the names of other Palestinians that have been killed will be conveyed once they are identified.

  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 3 June 2002 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^a 
(Monday, 20 May to Saturday, 2 June 2002)

   Monday, 20 May 2002 

1.   Mohamed Awad Ibrahim Hamdieh

   Tuesday, 21 May 2002

1.  Mohammed Talal Kasab (17 years old)

   Wednesday, 22 May 2002

1.  Abdel Salam Mohmoud Al-Jirbi

2.  Khaled Mahmoud Dwood Zakarneh

3.  Mahmoud Abdallah Al-Titi

4.  Iyad Samir Abu Hamdan 

5.   Bisheer Mohamed Abdel Fatah Yeesh

6.  Imad Selim Alkhateeb 

7.   Moussa Abdallah Abdel Rahman Durghameh Alshawani

   Thursday, 23 May 2002

1.  Aref Ali Asaad Hanini

2.  Basam Hamad Qishdeh 

    Friday, 24 May 2002

1.  Miaweh Mohamed Ali Ali Bahnjawi

2.  Mohamed Basam Al-Shorti

3.  Eisheh Ali Hasan

    Saturday, 25 May 2002

1.  Kamelah Saleh Abu Saeed 

2.   Nawa’a Alyan Abu Saeed (12 years old)

   Sunday, 26 May 2002 

1.   Waked Assad Al-Qutob

2.  Mustafa Abdel Jawad Akeek

    Monday, 27 May 2002

1.   Mohammed Hussein Abu El-Kheir (15 years old)

   Tuesday, 28 May 2002

1.  Ahmed Abdel Salam Jawabreh

2.   Mohammed Ahmed Dawood Abu Al Sunobr

3.  Ghalyeh Ahmed Al Shaleh 

    Wednesday, 29 May 2002

1.  Mohammed Salam Jawabreh 

2.   Mohammed Ahmed Dawood Abu Sonber

3.  Ghalyeh Ahmed Al-Shaleh 

    Saturday, 1 June 2002

1.  Tareq Hilmi Al-Kharaz 

2.   Jamal Khalil Hassan Abu Muslim

3.   Hazem Salam Zuareb (15 years old)

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^aThe total number of Palestinian martyrs killed by Israeli occupying forces since 28 September 2000 is 1,548.