Illegal Israeli actions in the OPT – Letter from Palestine

Identical letters dated 21 August 2001 from the Permanent Observer of Palestine to the

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

Within the past few days, Israel, the occupying Power, has committed a series of new savage crimes against the Palestinian people in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including Jerusalem. On Sunday, 19 August 2001, Israeli occupying forces fired missiles at the home of Samir Suliman Abu Zied, killing him along with his seven-year-old daughter and five-year-old son in Rafah. The bodies of the three killed in this brutal Israeli attack had been torn to pieces and had been badly burnt. Also in Rafah on that same day, without any provocation or justification, Israeli occupying forces shot and killed a 12-year-old boy in cold blood. Furthermore, in a separate incident in the city of Nablus, Israeli occupying forces shot Moeen Abu Lawia in the neck, instantly killing him as he was going around an Israeli checkpoint by foot, trying to return home after buying books and stationery for his children.

These above-mentioned cold-blooded killings committed by the Israeli occupying forces denotes Israel’s persistence in continuing with its bloody military campaign against the Palestinian people in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including Jerusalem, which began in September 2000. We hold the Government of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon fully responsible for that campaign, including war crimes and State terrorism committed against the Palestinian civilian population.

Since our last letter to you, dated 16 August 2001 (A/ES-10/103-S/2001/798), I regret to inform you that Israeli occupying forces have killed eight more Palestinians, including the above-mentioned martyrs, bringing the total number of martyrs to 571. (The names of the martyrs are contained in the annex to the present letter.) At the same time, the total number of Palestinian civilians injured, many severely and permanently, also continues to rise each day.

I am writing the present letter in follow-up to our previous 63 letters addressed to you regarding this grave and ongoing situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including Jerusalem, dated from 29 September 2000 to 16 August 2001 (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 and A/ES-10/103-S/2001/798).

At this critical time, we reaffirm that the international community has a duty to bring all illegal actions committed by Israel, the occupying Power, against Palestinian civilians to an end. We believe that the Security Council has the obligation to take concrete measures with the aim of ending the tragic situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including Jerusalem. The meeting convened by the Council on 20 August 2001 was an encouraging step in that direction and we call on the Council to adopt the necessary resolution in this regard.

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 21 August 2001 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

(Saturday, 18 August, through Sunday, 19 August 2001)

Saturday, 18 August 2001

1. Abdel Rahman Mohammed Abu Bakra

Sunday, 19 August 2001

1. Moeen Abu Lawia

2. Mohammed Soboh Abu Arar (12 years old)

3. Samir Suliman Abu Zeid

4. Alaa’ Samir Abu Zeid (7 years old)

5. Suliman Samir Abu Zeid (5 years old)

6. Saleh Zidan

7. Yasser Abdel Raheem Bedawi (from wounds sustained on 16 August 2001)

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^a Total number of Palestinian martyrs killed by Israeli occupying forces since 28 September 2000 = 571.