Illegal Israeli actions in OPT – Letter from Palestine

Identical letters dated 12 March 2001 from the Permanent Observer

of Palestine to the United Nations addressed to the Secretary-General

and to the President of the Security Council

Israel, the occupying Power, continues with its bloody military campaign against the Palestinian people. Yesterday, the occupying Power even escalated its severe restrictions on the movement of persons and goods by surrounding the city of Ramallah in the Occupied West Bank and many other populated Palestinian areas. The Israeli army built new roadblocks, dug trenches around certain areas and bulldozed paved roads in some locations for the direct purpose of preventing Palestinian movement. Moreover, the Israeli army sent in additional tanks as part of these measures of siege.

It is distressing to note that the above-mentioned actions are among the first of the new Israeli government of Ariel Sharon since it took office, a signal of the impending increasing dangers facing the Palestinian people. In fact, an Israeli source has described these additional measures as moving from a “breathing siege” to a “suffocating siege”. Indeed, the Palestinian people under Israeli occupation are now suffocated and besieged.

Also today, the Israeli army shot and killed another Palestinian civilian and injured more than 20 of those who were demonstrating against the siege of the city of Ramallah. This killing brings the total number of Palestinian martyrs since my last letter to you, on 9 March 2001 (A/ES-10/64-S/2001/209) to 373 persons. (The names of the two martyrs are contained in the annex to the present letter.)

We are calling upon the Security Council to convene an immediate meeting to consider the increasingly dangerous situation on the ground in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including Jerusalem, with the aim of taking the necessary measures, including the establishment of a United Nations observer force to contribute in providing protection for the Palestinian civilians.

Further, please note that this letter is in follow-up to my previous letters to you, dated from 29 September 2000 to 9 March 2001, on this very serious matter (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 and A/ES-10/64-S/2001/209).

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 and of the Security Council.

(Signed) Nasser Al-Kidwa

Ambassador

Permanent Observer of Palestine to the United Nations

Annex to the identical letters dated 12 March 2001 from the

Permanent Observer of Palestine to the United Nations

addressed to the Secretary-General and the to President of the Security Council

Names of martyrs killed by Israeli security forces in the

Occupied Palestinian Territory, including Jerusalem

(Saturday, 10 March 2001 through Monday, 12 March 2001)

Saturday, 10 March 2001

1. Eyad Sa’di Ayyad

Monday, 12 March 2001

1. Abdelkader Mohammed Ibrahim