Illegal Israeli actions in the OPT – GA 10th emergency special session – Letter from Palestine

Identical letters dated 12 December 2006 from the Permanent Observer of Palestine to the United Nations addressed to the Secretary-General and the President of the Security Council

In the past month, Israel, the occupying Power, has carried out incessant attacks against the Occupied Palestinian Territory, particularly the Gaza Strip. In the month of November alone, Israeli occupying forces killed over 100 Palestinians, 35 of them children. This astounding figure reflects Israel’s disdain of the international community’s grave concern about the occupying Power’s military assaults against Palestinian civilians. In fact, the occupying Power’s continued military aggression against the Palestinian population in the occupied West Bank and its siege of the Gaza Strip send a clear message of Israel’s breach of international law and its violation of the rights of the Palestinian people.

On Tuesday, 19 December 2006, Doaa’ Abdel Qader, age 13, was shot dead by Israeli occupying forces when she was playing with her friend Rasha, age 12, next to the Israeli separation wall in the town of Firoan, near Tulkarem in the northern West Bank. Although the Israeli occupying forces have repeatedly targeted Palestinian children in the past, Doaa’s death is particularly disturbing because she was fatally shot in the head by Israeli soldiers barely 100 metres away. The Israeli occupying forces then transferred the seriously injured girl to a hospital in Tel Aviv but she died on the way to the hospital. However, the occupying army claimed at the time of the shooting that the girl was merely suffering from shock.

This disturbing incident highlights the utter disregard that the Israeli occupying forces and the occupation regime as a whole have for Palestinian lives. Furthermore, this latest fatal shooting incident cannot be discussed without taking into account the numerous other, similar incidents that have taken place against innocent Palestinian civilians over the years. It is the culture of impunity and disrespect for Palestinian lives that causes a repeat of these tragic incidents in which Palestinians are killed in cold blood.

Incidentally, suspending the Israeli occupying soldiers involved in this shooting does not indicate a shift in policy. Instead, it is a regrettable continuation of the status quo in which Israeli soldiers involved in such cold-blooded murders are suspended pending investigations and these so-called investigations either clear the perpetrators of these crimes or punish them with a slap on the wrist. These punishments further feed this culture of impunity and assure the Israeli occupation soldiers that, regardless of the cruelty they may exercise in killing an innocent Palestinian, there will be no deterring punishment.

The humanitarian situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, especially in the Gaza Strip, has seriously deteriorated. Now, Palestinians find themselves under constant closure by the occupying Power and besieged financially. Yet, despite Israel’s continued military aggression and the heavy toll Palestine’s sons and daughters pay for the occupying Power’s disdain of international law and Palestinian rights, we remain committed to these very laws and principles that the occupying Power refuses to honour. It cannot be acceptable for Israel, the occupying Power, to act as if it is above international law and immune from international reproach. It should not be allowed to continue in this bloody course of actions, violating international law and crushing Palestinian aspirations. Instead, urgent action from the international community must confront it and return it to the family of nations that respect and abide by international law. We will continue to work tirelessly with the international community to ensure that this happens, and it is our hope that this letter would further motivate the adoption of an appropriate and firm reaction that would confront Israel’s seemingly unstoppable campaign of death and destruction against the Palestinian people.

The present letter is in follow-up to our previous 271 letters to you regarding the ongoing crisis in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, since 28 September 2000. Those letters, dated from 29 September 2000 (A/55/432-S/2000/921) to 8 November 2006 (A/ES-10/365-S/2006/872), 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.

In follow-up to the above-mentioned letters, it is my profound regret to inform you that, since our last letter to you, at least 59 more Palestinians have been killed by the Israeli occupying forces, raising the total number of martyrs killed since September 2000 to 4,444.

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 of Palestine to the United Nations

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Annex to the identical letters dated 21 December 2006 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*

(Friday, 10 November 2006, to Thursday, 21 December 2006)

Friday, 10 November 2006

1. Bassem Al-Kafarneh

Sunday, 12 November 2006

2. Moussa Ahmad Zuhd (age 14)

3. Mohammad Nabeel Abu Mou’awad (age 18)

4. Mahmoud Hassan Abu Hamadeh (age 18)

Tuesday, 14 November 2006

5. Mohammad Miqhiz

6. Bahaa’ Salah Al-Khatari

Thursday, 16 November 2006

7. Mohammad Salameh Humaidan

Friday, 17 November 2006

8. Tareq Ziyad Taha (age 17)

Saturday, 18 November 2006

9. Najwa Awad Khlaif

10. Shadi Al-Shareef

11. Sa’eed Salem Hajjouj

12. Tha’er Al-Masri (age 16)

Sunday, 19 November 2006

13. Mohammad Abu Jalhoum (age 17)

Monday, 20 November 2006

14. Rakan Kayed Nusseirat (age 16)

15. Abdel Qader Habeeb

16. Bassel Eid

Tuesday, 21 November 2006

17. Ahmad Al-Mousa

18. Ayman Hassanain

19. Saa’diyeh Hiriz (age 70)

Wednesday, 22 November 2006

20. Mous’ad Abu Mataq

21. Asmaa Abu Marassa

22. Fadi Ammour Al-Demej

23. Adhan Khaled Al-Sahbani (age 14)

24. Sami Anwar Al-Zebdeh

Thursday, 23 November 2006

25. Fatima Al-Najjar

26. Alaa’ Omar Khaleel

27. Nasser Jamal Al-Nazr

28. Mohammad Mahmoud Al-Jerjawi (age 19)

29. Fa’eq Abu Al-Qumsan

30. Mahmoud Al-Bassiouni

Friday, 24 November 2006

31. Alaa’ Al-Omari

32. Abdelaziz Salman (age 9)

33. Mohammad Salem Joudeh

Saturday, 25 November 2006

34. Ayman Muhaissan

35. Waleed Abu Al-Qumboz

36. Mohammad Khaled Alabdallah

37. Ahmad Labad

Sunday, 26 November 2006

38. Yehya A-Qassas

Monday, 27 November 2006

39. Abdel Razzak Mahmud

40. Nassr Bakr

41. Fatima Nazzal

Thursday, 30 November 2006

42. Shadi Essam Nayef (age 16)

Friday, 1 December 2006

43. Mourad Ibrahim Abu Awwad

44. Bashar Humaidan Al-Jaa’bari

Saturday, 2 December 2006

45. Ayman Abu Hadi (age 10)

Sunday, 3 December 2006

46. Mahmmad Abdel Kareem Al-Jeje (age 15)

Monday, 4 December 2006

47. Mahmoud Abdel Aal

Tuesday, 12 December 2006

48. Lateefa Miskawi (age 57)

Wednesday, 13 December 2006

49. Alaa’ Ahmad Makkawi

Thursday, 14 December 2006

50. Mohammad Ameen Ramaheh

51. Waheeb Musleh Nayef Al-Deek

Saturday, 16 December 2006

52. Ameen Makhlouf

Tuesday, 19 December 2006

53. Doaa’ Abdel Qader (age 13)

54. Mohammad Mahmoud Hamad

55. Alaa’ Annab

56. Ammar Zaqzouq

Wednesday, 20 December 2006

57. Salah Hafez Sawafta

58. Hussam Al-Issa

Thursday, 21 December 2006

59. Hamdan Barhoum

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* The total number of Palestinian martyrs killed by the Israeli occupying forces since 28 September 2000 is 4,444.