Illegal Israeli actions in OPT – Letter from Palestine

Identical letters dated 19 September 2007 from the Permanent Observer of Palestine to the United Nations addressed to the Secretary-General and the President of the Security Council

As the Palestinian people in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, observe the holy month of Ramadan, they continue to suffer loss and hardship as a result of the illegal policies and practices committed by Israel, the occupying Power. In this regard, among other illegal policies, Israel, the occupying Power, is denying access to Palestinian men under 45 years of age and Palestinian women under 35 years of age to Al-Haram Al-Sharif in Occupied East Jerusalem for prayer. Since our last letter to you, dated 7 September 2007, not a day has passed in which the occupying Power has ceased to commit serious violations and grave breaches of international law against the Palestinian civilian population under its occupation, causing widespread devastation and suffering and deepening the humanitarian crisis, especially in the occupied Gaza Strip.

In a dangerous development today, 19 September 2007, Israel’s Security Cabinet declared the occupied Gaza Strip as “enemy entity”, declaring its intention to cut off power and fuel supplies to the already isolated and imprisoned Palestinian civilian population in the Gaza Strip. President Mahmoud Abbas condemned this latest Israeli declaration, stating, “this oppressive decision will only strengthen the choking embargo imposed on 1.5 million people in the Gaza Strip, increase their suffering and deepen their tragedy”. This cruel decision by Israel, the occupying Power, amounts to collective punishment of the entire Palestinian civilian population in the Gaza Strip and is unjustifiable under any and all principles of international law. Israel, the occupying Power, must not be allowed, in any way, to escape from its obligations as an occupying Power and must be held accountable by the international community for all such violations of its legal obligations under the Fourth Geneva Convention, which is applicable to the entire Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem. In this connection, the Gaza Strip is part of the Occupied Palestinian Territory. The above-mentioned illegal actions by the occupying Power must be condemned and Israel must be called upon to halt all of its violations of international law and scrupulously abide by its legal obligations under international humanitarian law as an occupying Power.

Among other developments, since the early hours of yesterday, Tuesday, 18 September 2007, Israeli occupying forces raided the West Bank town of Nablus, causing death, injury and destruction. Israeli occupying forces entered the refugee camp of Ain Beir Al-Ma’ in Nablus and opened fire, killing 17-year-old Mohammad Reda Khaled and a disabled man, Adeeb al-Damouni. Israeli occupying forces then proceeded to impose a curfew on the nearly 5,000 Palestinian refugees residing in the camp, conducting house-to-house searches and knocking down walls to get from one building to the next. These violent actions were pursued all while illegally using Palestinian civilians as human shields.

This letter is in follow-up to our previous 295 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 September 2007 (A/ES-10/399-S/2007/536), constitute a basic record of the crimes committed by Israel, the occupying Power, against the Palestinian people since September 2000. For all of these war crimes, 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.

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

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