Illegal Israeli actions in OPT/Military operations in the Gaza Strip – Letter from Palestine

    Identical letters dated 28 February 2008 from the Permanent Observer of Palestine to the United Nations addressed to the Secretary-General and the President of the Security Council

  The Palestinian death toll is mounting as a result of the indiscriminate and lethal military assaults being carried out by the Israeli occupying forces against the Palestinian civilian population. Since the start of this month, at least 76 Palestinians, including 13 children, have been killed by Israel, the occupying Power, in the Occupied Palestinian Territory.

  In deliberate and flagrant breach of article 33 of the Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilians in Time of War, Israel continues to collectively punish the Palestinian civilian population in the Gaza Strip, including by means of military reprisals against persons and property and by acts of terror and intimidation. Such violence is deepening in the suffering of a population that is already under severe duress due to the crippling siege and humanitarian calamity imposed on them for many months now by the occupying Power. Moreover, the carnage and destruction are perpetuating a cycle of violence that threatens to completely destabilize the situation and derail the fragile peace process.

  Yesterday, 27 February 2008, the Israeli occupying forces launched a targeted air missile strike in the Khan Younis area in southern Gaza, extrajudicially executing five Palestinian men. Earlier in the day, Israeli occupying forces also targeted and killed a Palestinian man in the Bureij refugee camp in central Gaza. With such incessant fuelling of the cycle of violence, this attack was followed by retaliation from Gaza into southern Israel, killing an Israeli man.

  Despite the strong reaction to this killing by the Palestinian Authority leadership and the reiteration of calls for a cessation of all violence on both sides to avert the dangerous spiralling of the situation on the ground, Israel persisted in its escalation of military assaults against the Gaza Strip, killing more Palestinians and further terrorizing the civilian population throughout the day. Among the Palestinians killed by the ongoing Israeli rampage were four children, including a five-month old baby, Mohammad Nasser Al-Bora’ei, and three young boys who were innocently playing outside together, Bilal Hijazi, age 10, Anas Al-Mana’ma, age 10, and Mohammad Khalil Hamada, age 11.

  Moreover, the occupying Power, in addition to its other illegal practices, also committed several killings in the West Bank. In the city of Nablus, where the Palestinian Authority has been exerting serious efforts to promote law and order, Israeli undercover units raided the Balata refugee camp, killing three Palestinians in two separate incidents and arresting several others. Undoubtedly, such actions gravely undermine the strides made by Palestinian security forces to establish calm and security in the area and threaten the truce agreement reached there.

  Today, the Israeli occupying forces continued their violent and illegal reprisal killings, launching a series of deadly air strikes via warplanes and helicopters against civilian areas in the Gaza Strip, killing at least 18 Palestinians. Several of those killed today were the targets of extrajudicial execution by the occupying Power. Five children were also killed in attacks today, including three children from the same family, Ali Dardonah, age 8, Deeb Dardonah, age 11, and Omar Dardonah, age 14, and another two boys, Mohammad Na’eem Hammouda, age 7, and Amjad Hafez Al-Sakani, age 12.

  Yet, it must be cautioned that Israel, the occupying Power, did not begin this wave of bloodshed just yesterday. It has been an incessant, cruel and indiscriminate military campaign that has brought untold suffering and loss daily to the Palestinian people, particularly in the Gaza Strip. One tragic example of the devastation being wrought by the occupying Power is an attack that was launched nearly two weeks ago also in the Gaza Strip in Al-Bureij refugee camp, which resulted in the killing of a father, mother and three children in their home, which was completely destroyed, the killing of three other Palestinian civilians in neighbouring homes and the wounding of dozens more civilians, including several children.

  The above-mentioned acts of lethal aggression by Israel, the occupying Power, are blatant violations of international law, including humanitarian and human rights law. Such wilful killing of civilians and wanton destruction of property also constitute war crimes.

  Moreover, these unlawful actions are not actions that in any way whatsoever can promote calm and stability and serve the peace process. These illegal actions are inflammatory, provocative and dangerous and serve only to fully ignite the cycle of violence, death and destruction and undermine any progress made in the peace process. This is an indisputable fact. The peace process is not divorced from the situation on the ground. Just as positive developments and progress in the peace process can beneficially impact the situation on the ground, such negative developments and illegal actions very detrimentally impact not only the situation on the ground but the peace process itself. The continuation of this sick pattern and vicious cycle will only bring more suffering and loss for both the Palestinian and Israeli peoples and take us farther away from the realization of peace.

  We are at a juncture where the international community is in clear concurrence about what is needed to advance the process towards the attainment of a just, lasting and comprehensive peace. Moreover, we are at a juncture where two high-level United Nations officials, including the United Nations Special Coordinator and Personal Representative of the Secretary-General, Robert Serry, and the Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, John Holmes, have just briefed the Security Council on the critical and absolutely untenable situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, with its grave consequences for the security, well-being and human dignity of Palestinian civilians, and have clearly stressed the urgency of bridging the huge gap between the situation on the ground and the peace process between the Palestinian and Israeli sides, including through a new and more positive strategy vis-à-vis the Gaza Strip by the concerned parties, in order to avert the fatal undermining of that process and the sabotaging of all hopes for peace. This requires immediate and real action by the international community.

  The Security Council cannot continue to be sidelined and paralyzed as this crisis continues to unfold and escalate. It must uphold its Charter responsibilities and act to bring an end to this cycle of violence and counter-violence. It must demand respect for the sanctity of civilian life and demand utmost respect for the provisions of international humanitarian law that are supposed to provide innocent civilians with protection in situations of armed conflict, including situations of foreign occupation. The Security Council must be a player to help the parties concerned to develop and promote the new strategy that has been called for to resolve the current crisis, ameliorate the terrible situation on the ground and create a calmer, more positive environment for the advancement of peace negotiations in good faith.

  This letter is in follow-up to our previous 308 letters to you regarding the ongoing crisis in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, since 28 September 2000. These letters, dated from 29 September 2000 (A/55/432-S/2000/921) to 7 February 2008 (A/ES-10/412-S/2008/81), constitute a basic record of the crimes being committed by Israel, the occupying Power, against the Palestinian people since September 2000. For all of these war crimes, acts of State terrorism and systematic human rights violations committed against the Palestinian people, Israel, the occupying Power, must be held accountable and the perpetrators must be brought to justice.

  In follow-up to the above-mentioned letters, it is my deep regret to inform you that, since our last letter to you, at least 58 more Palestinian civilians, including 13 children, have been killed by the Israeli occupying forces, causing the total number of martyrs killed since September 2000 to surpass 5,000 people, totalling now 5,012. (The names of the martyrs that have been identified are listed in the annex to the present letter.)

  I should 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) Riyad Mansour

Ambassador

Permanent Observer

    Annex to the identical letters dated 28 February 2008 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 the Israeli occupying forces in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem*

(from Saturday, 9 February 2008 to Thursday, 28 February 2008)

   Saturday, 9 February 2008

 1.  Mohammad Motair

    Sunday, 10 February 2008

 2.  Rami Abdel Rahman Kareem

 3.   Saleh Nabhan

    Thursday, 14 February 2008

 4.   Tayseer Mohammad Abdel Qader Nazzal

   Friday, 15 February 2008

 5.  Ayman Abu Fayed

 6.   Marwa Abu Zayed

  7.  Basma Ayman Abu Fayed (12)

 8.   Ayyoub Ayman Abu Fayed (5)

 9.  Ali Ayman Fayed (17)

 10.   Talal Salah Abu Awn

 11.  Attallah Al-Somairi

   Saturday, 16 February 2008

 12.  Hani Shaheen

    Monday, 18 February 2008

 13.  Ibrahim Saleh 

 14.   Abdel Kareem Al-Ghalban

 15.  Nasser Abu Shabab

 16.   Abdel Salam Abu Susain

 17.  Alaa’ Abu Haddaf

    Wednesday, 20 February 2008

 18.  Ismail Jadallah 

 19.   Tamer Mohammad Abu Sha’ar (10)

   Saturday, 23 February 2008

 20.  Bassam Al-Hazeen

 21.   Ayman Abu Sa’eed

 22.  Mohammad Talal Al-Za’anin

 23.  Ibrahim Abu Jarad

 24.   Mohammad Hassan Hossanain

   Sunday, 24 February 2008

 25.  Midhat Aayesh Awad

 26.   Ibrahim Abu Jarad

    Monday, 25 February 2008

 27.  Hassan Suleiman 

    Wednesday, 27 February 2008

 28.   Mohammad Nasser Al-Bora’ei (5 months)

 29.  Bilal Hijazi (11)

 30.   Anas Al-Mana’ma (10)

 31.  Mohammad Hamada (11)

 32.  Ibrahim Zaki Al-Massimi

 33.   Zaki Adnan Abu Zaid

 34.  Munawar Abu Mandeel

 35.  Omar Attiya Abu Akar

 36.   Aziz Jawdat Mas’oud

 37.  Hassan Nour Al-Mutawaq

 38.  Abdallah Mohammad Edwan

 39.   Mohammad Majdi Abu Al-Hossain

 40.  Hammad Masalha 

   Thursday, 28 February 2008

 41.  Deeb Dardonah (11)

 42.   Omar Dardonah (14)

 43.  Ali Dardonah (8)

 44.   Mohammad Na’eem Hammouda (7)

 45.   Amjad Hafez Al-Sakani (12)

 46.  Jawad Khamees Tafesh

 47.   Hamza Khalil Al-Hayya

 48.  Ahmad Saleem Al-Samary

 49.  Amjad Al-Amreeti 

 50.   Maher Abu Al-Reesh

 51.  Ahmad Al-Nadi

 52.  Loai Fa’eq Qanaita

 53.   Ramez Nasser

 54.  Awad Al-Banna

 55.  Mohammad Abdallah Zowaidi

 56.   Tal’aat Saleh Al-Romailat

 57.  Mohammad Al-Helou

 58.   Rami Khalifa

*   The total number of Palestinian martyrs killed by the Israeli occupying forces since 28 September 2000 is 5,012.

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