Illegal Israeli actions in OPT – Letter from Palestine

 Identical letters dated 25 October 2004 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 its rampage of carnage and destruction in the Occupied Palestinian Territory. In the one week that has passed since our last letter to you, the Israeli occupying forces have brutally killed another 31 Palestinians, including children, and seriously wounded dozens of other people. The occupying Power has persisted in particular with its military raids and attacks on civilian areas in the Gaza Strip, causing even more devastation in this already impoverished and desperate area.

  Today, the Israeli occupying forces launched a large-scale military attack on the Khan Younis refugee camp in Gaza, terrorizing the civilian population and causing more death and destruction. Israeli tanks and armoured vehicles raided the camp during the night and attacked the area from both the air and ground with missile strikes, tank shelling and gunfire. This excessive, indiscriminate and deliberate use of force by the occupying Power resulted in the killing of 16 Palestinians, including two children, today alone and the injury of more than 70 Palestinians, many of them critically wounded. Israeli bulldozers also demolished a home in the camp, crushed a wall around a hospital and caused damage to several other homes and properties.

  The occupying Power has also continued its criminal practice of extrajudicial killing. On Thursday, 21 October, the Israeli occupying forces targeted and killed Yehia Adnan Mahmoud Jaber Al-Ghoul in a helicopter missile strike on his car outside a mosque in Gaza City just after evening prayers. One other man was killed in the strike and several other people were wounded.

  As the annexed list of martyrs tragically illustrates, every single day Palestinian families are mourning the loss of their loved ones at the hands of a ruthless and brutal occupying Power. Indeed, not a day goes by in which Israel, the occupying Power, does not commit widespread and grave violations of the rights of the Palestinian people in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem. War crimes are being committed, State terrorism is being committed and systematic human rights violations are being committed by the occupying Power as it continues to breach all of its obligations under international law, including in particular under the Fourth Geneva Convention. The Palestinian people continue to look towards the international community to help bring an end to this horrific situation to which they are being subjected under Israeli occupation. The continuation of the current situation can only lead to more strife, bloodshed and loss for the Palestinian people and to greater instability in the area and in the region as a whole.

  The present letter is in follow-up to our previous 208 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 18 October 2004 (A/ES-10/289-S/2004/824) 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.

  Accordingly, in follow-up to the above-mentioned letters, it is my regret to inform you that, since my last letter to you, at least 31 more Palestinians have been killed by the Israeli occupying forces, raising the total number of martyrs killed since September 2000 to 3,439. (The names of the martyrs that have been identified are listed in the annex to the present letter.)

  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) Somaia Barghouti 

Chargé d’affaires a.i.

Annex to the identical letters dated 25 October 2004 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 the Israeli occupying forces in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem * (Tuesday, 19 October 2004, to Monday, 25 October 2004)

    Tuesday, 19 October 2004

 1.   Mohammed Ahmed Hamed

 2.  Mohammed Kamal Al Shawa

 3.  Alyan AlWideyeh

    Wednesday, 20 October 2004

 1.   Ahmed Mohammed Burekeh

 2.  Jihad Hassanien 

    Thursday, 21 October 2004

 1.   Islam Tahseen Al-Wadyeh

 2.   Abdelqader Abdelrahim Al-Mansi Zumult

 3.   Fahd Mohammed Zaki Abu Hileil (died from wounds sustained on 5 October 2004)

 4.  Yehia Adnan Mahmoud Jaber Al-Ghoul

 5.   Imad Mahmoud Eid Abbas

   Friday, 22 October 2004

 1.  Iyad Mohammed Al Ser

 2.  Ahmed Ziab Al Haddad

 3.   Najah Zaki Al Shawa (died from wounds sustained on 4 October 2004) 

    Sunday, 24 October 2004

 1.  Ziad Suliman Abu Mustafa

 2.  Omar Suliman Abu Mustafa (18 years old)

    Monday, 25 October 2004

 1.  Amin Atta Al-Jabbour

 2.  Hossan Abed Al-Birim

 3.   Iyad Mohammed Abu Liheyeh

 4.  Mohammed Fawzi Zua’rab

 5.  Sami Nasr Allah Al Riki Zua’rab

 6.   Abdelrahim Ismail Abu Al-Nimr

 7.  Ahmed Moussa Al-Bayouk

 8.  Mahmoud Al-Bishieti

 9.  Suliman Borhom Zua’rab

 10.  Ibrahim Saber Al-Qidreh

 11.   Hisham Hasan Ashoor (11 years old)

 12.   Hussein Hasan Abu Namoos

 13.  Sami Jawdat Barkakh

 14.  Mohammed Khidr Abu Sultan

 15.   Sa’ed Mohammed Al-Najjar (18 years old)

 16.  Haytham Al Nabrees

*   The total number of Palestinian martyrs killed by the Israeli occupying forces since 28 September 2000 is 3,439.

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