Illegal Israeli actions in the OPT – Letter from Palestine

Identical letters dated 18 January 2002 from the Permanent Observer

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

and the President of the Security Council

In the dark, early morning hours of today, Israeli F-16 warplanes attacked the Palestinian city of Tulkarem, destroying the governor’s headquarters, reducing it to rubble. A Palestinian policeman was killed in the attack and more than 50 Palestinians were injured, including three who remain in serious condition.

Also today, in the city of Ramallah, Israeli occupying forces were reinforced and Israeli tanks and armoured vehicles moved to locations within only 30 yards of President Yasser Arafat’s headquarters, intensifying the Israeli siege of both the city and the Palestinian Authority. Israeli occupying forces also fired live ammunition, rubber bullets and tear gas at Palestinian demonstrators in Ramallah, injuring several people, with at least one person in serious condition.

These attacks by the occupying Power against the Palestinian people severely undermine the tenuous and fragile ceasefire, which had been declared by President Arafat in a serious effort to bring calm to the dangerous situation on the ground. Even prior to the actions taken today by the Israeli forces, and prior to the attack that took place in Hadera, which was unequivocally condemned by the Palestinian Authority, the Israeli army deputy chief, General Moshe Yahalon, threatened an escalation of Israeli force by threatening the reoccupation of areas under the control of the Authority. The General has been quoted as stating on 17 January, “The army could be led to return to sectors it withdrew from after the Oslo Accords”. Such statements reaffirm the notion that the Israeli government of Mr. Ariel Sharon is neither interested in calming the situation nor in a ceasefire, but is clearly more interested in continuing its assaults against the Palestinian people and the Palestinian Authority and causing more deaths, injuries and destruction. This has been clearly documented in our previous letters to you detailing the ongoing Israeli war crimes, State terrorism and other violations in the weeks since the declaration of this most recent ceasefire.

In follow-up to my previous 90 letters to you regarding the continuing crisis in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including Jerusalem, dated from 29 September 2000 to 14 January 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 and A/ES-10/139-S/2002/58), it is my regret to inform you that since my last letter to you the Israeli occupying forces have killed 2 more Palestinians. (The names of the martyrs are contained in the annex to the present letter.) With these killings, the number of Palestinians killed since 28 September 2000 now totals 847 martyrs. Regrettably, the number of Palestinians injured, many seriously, by the Israeli occupying forces also continues to rise. The Israeli government must be held accountable for all of these killings and injuries and all of the destruction it has wreaked throughout the Occupied Palestinian Territory.

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