Situation in the OPT – Letter from Palestine

Letter dated 29 March 1994 from the Permanent Observer 

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

I am instructed by the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization, which retains the powers and responsibilities of the Provisional Government of Palestine, to bring the following to your attention.

Last night, at approximately 7.45 p.m. local time, in the Jabalyia Refugee Camp, Gaza Strip, an Israeli army undercover unit (death squad) ambushed a group of Palestinian youth activists, who were wearing uniforms and were riding in two cars.  The Israeli soldiers opened fire at the group, killing all six of them and also injuring a large number of other people in the immediate vicinity, including a 12-year-old boy, who remains in critical condition.

This latest criminal action by the Israeli authorities comes at a time when the parties are trying to reach agreement in implementation of Security Council resolution 904 (1994), and to break the impasse in the peace process created by the massacre in Al-Haram Al-Ibrahimi on 25 February 1994.  Unfortunately, since that massacre, it is becoming more clear that the Israeli army is following a policy of escalation and increased repression against our people that has led to a high number of casualties among the Palestinian people in the occupied Palestinian territory, including Jerusalem, which includes more than 40 deaths.  This situation is severely undermining the prospect for progress in the peace process and threatens to cause a general explosion of the situation, for which Israel, the occupying Power, is responsible.  

We call upon the international community to bring an end to such a situation, and we emphasize again the immediate need for international protection for the Palestinian people through a direct international presence in the occupied Palestinian territory.

I would be grateful if you could arrange to have the text of the present letter distributed as an official document of the General Assembly, under agenda items 34, 35, 85 and 86, and of the Security Council.

(Signed)  Nasser AL-KIDWA

 Permanent Observer of Palestine

 to the United Nations

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