Situation in the OPT – Letter by PLO – Letter from Sudan

Letter dated 11 June 1987 from the Permanent Representative of

the Sudan to the United Nations addressed to the Secretary-General

In my capacity as Chairman of the Group of Arab States for the month of June 1987, I have the honour to forward herewith a letter dated 9 June 1987 addressed to you by Mr. Nasser Al-Kidwa, Alternate Permanent Observer of the Palestine Liberation Organization at the United Nations (see annex).

I should be grateful if you would arrange for this letter and the annex thereto to be circulated as an official document of the General Assembly, under items 38 and 76 of the preliminary list, and of the Security Council.

(Signed)  Amin Maqzoub ABDOUN

Permanent Representative and Chairman

of the Group of Arab States

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ANNEX

Letter dated 9 June 1987 from the Alternate Permanent Observer of the

Palestine Liberation Organization to the United Nations addressed to the Secretary-General

Upon instructions of the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization, I am asked to bring the following to your urgent attention.  During the evening of 1 June 1987, Israeli occupation forces stormed Balata Palestinian refugee camp and declared it a closed military area. Soldiers conducted house-to-house searches, and forcibly gathered all boys and men older than 14 years of age into the UNRWA (United Nations Relief and works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East) schoolyard. The men were brought individually to tents for questioning, 53 were arrested for further interrogation and 10 were orderer administratively detained for six months. One camp resident, 36-year-old Jihad Massimi, was ordered deported from the Israeli occupied Palestinian West Bank.

During the same period, Israeli occupation forces were harassing Palestinian residents in Nablus. Soldiers shot and killed 15-year-old Azzam Al-Arundi and shot 10-year-old Saher Ba'ru twice in the face.

On 5 June 1987, another Palestinian child, a 13-year-old boy, was shot and killed by an Israeli patrol in the streets of Nablus.

During the evening of 6 June 1987, armed Zionist settlers from Kiryat Arba rampaged through Dheisheh Palestinian refugee camp, shooting indiscriminately and causing terror and panic. The settlers forced their way into homes, physically attacked men, women and children and destroyed furniture and other possessions they found in the homes. Dozens of vehicles were also destroyed.

Israeli occupation forces arrived at the camp; they did not attempt to stop or arrest the rampaging settlers. The soldiers placed road-blocks to entrances and enforced a curfew on Dheisheh camp.

On 7 June 1987, for the third time since the beginning of the month, the Palestinian town of Qalqilia was put under military siege. Israeli occupation forces carried out massive house-to-house searches and arrested scores of Palestinian residents.

In the Gaza Strip, Israeli occupation forces continued to commit acts of aggression against Palestinian residents. On 7 June 1987, Israeli soldiers stormed the campus of the Islamic University, arrested scores of students and ordered the University closed until further notice.

These collective measures are but one aspect of Israel's brutal "iron fist" policy in the occupied Palestinian territories. In bringing these latest developments to your attention, the Palestine Liberation Organization once again calls upon the Secretary-General and the Security Council of the United Nations to take all appropriate and necessary measures to ensure Israel's respect for the fourth Geneva Convention and compliance with the resolutions of the United Nations, in order to put an immediate end to the continuous human rights violations and repressive measures against the Palestinian people living under Israeli military occupation.

(Signed) Dr. M. Nasser AL-KIDWA

Alternate Permanent Observer

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