Illegal Israeli actions in OPT – Letter from Palestine

Identical letters dated 26 July 2001 from the Chargé d’affaires a.i. of the

Permanent Observer Mission of Palestine to the United Nations addressed

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

Israel, the occupying Power, continues to pursue its policy of extrajudicial killings of Palestinian civilians, in grave violation of the principles of international law and international humanitarian law. Yesterday, Israeli occupying forces fired seven missiles from a hilltop army base overlooking the city of Nablus at a civilian car, killing the driver, Salah Darwazeh, as well as injuring a number of Palestinian civilians. A spokesperson on behalf of the Israeli occupying forces has explicitly and publicly claimed responsibility for the attack and vowed to continue its assassination campaign in defiance of unanimous condemnation by the international community.

The above-mentioned assassinations are additional war crimes committed by Israeli occupying forces for which the government of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon is fully responsible. The Israeli government continues with such war crimes, State terrorism and all kinds of atrocities as part of its bloody military campaign being waged against the Palestinian people. Israeli officials and officers responsible for such war crimes must be held accountable by the international community, in accordance with international humanitarian law. Furthermore, this continued campaign against Palestinian civilians reaffirms the urgent need for the deployment of an international observer force in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including Jerusalem, in order to ensure protection for Palestinian civilians.

Since our last letter to you dated 20 July 2001 (A/ES-10/98-S/2001/717), I regret to inform you that Israeli occupying forces have killed five more Palestinians, including the above-mentioned martyrs, bringing the total number of Palestinian martyrs to 533 (the names of the martyrs are contained in the annex to the present letter). In addition dozens more Palestinian civilians have suffered injuries, many severely, as a result of the violent actions and attacks carried out by Israeli occupying forces.

Moreover, I am writing this letter in follow-up to our previous 58 letters addressed to you regarding this grave and ongoing situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including Jerusalem, dated from 29 September 2000 to 20 July 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 and A/ES-10/98-S/2001/717).

We believe that the United Nations, and specifically the Security Council, must fulfill their responsibility vis-à-vis the current situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including Jerusalem. We once again reiterate our call to the Council to uphold its responsibility and take the necessary action in this regard, in particular the establishment of an international observer force for the protection of Palestinian civilians, as well as to ensure compliance with international law, international humanitarian law and existing Palestinian-Israeli agreements. We also call for the international community to enforce the implementation of the recommendations of the report of the Sharm El-Sheikh Fact-Finding Committee (Mitchell report) in their entirety.

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) Marwan Jilani

Charge d’affaires a.i.

Annex to the identical letters dated 26 July 2001 from the Chargé d’affaires a.i.

of the Permanent Observer Mission 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*

(Friday, 20 July through Wednesday, 25 July 2001)

Friday, 20 July 2001

Raga’ei Abu Rajab Al-Tamimi

Sunday, 22 July 2001

Yehia Sobhi Al-Dayah

Monday, 23 July 2001

1. Refa’at Saber Al-Nahal (15 years old)

2. Mustafa Yussef Yassin

Wednesday, 25 July 2001

1. Salah Darwazah

___________

*Total number of Palestinian martyrs killed by Israeli occupying forces since 28 September 2000 = 533.