Illegal Israeli actions in OPT – Letter from Palestine

Identical letters dated 28 August 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

Today, Israeli occupying forces reoccupied parts of the Palestinian town of Beit Jala in the West Bank. In the early morning hours (Palestine time), Israeli occupying forces, supported by a number of tanks, armoured vehicles and paratroopers, raided the town of Beit Jala. In addition to terrorizing the civilian population as a whole, the Israeli raid resulted in the death of one Palestinian and the injury of tens of Palestinians. As we write this letter to you, Israeli occupying forces remain in Beit Jala and show no signs of withdrawing.

Also during the early morning hours of today, Israeli occupying forces made an incursion into Rafah in the Gaza Strip for several hours while bulldozers protected by tanks demolished 14 Palestinian homes and caused extensive damage to 20 others. In addition to the complete destruction and damage of the Palestinian homes, this brutal Israeli attack inflicted injuries upon at least 30 Palestinian civilians. Furthermore, today, Israeli occupying forces fired tank shells at a Palestinian checkpoint near Al-Khalil (Hebron), killing one Palestinian and injuring five others.

Yesterday’s Israeli assassination of the leader of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, Mr. Mustafa El-Zibri, as well as the reoccupation of parts of Beit Jala and the continued bloody Israeli military campaign, all represent a serious and dangerous escalation of hostility by Israel, the occupying Power, against the Palestinian people. These above-mentioned actions reaffirm that the goal of the Government of Mr. Ariel Sharon is to destroy all signed agreements and to prevent any possibility of returning to the negotiating table.

Israel, the occupying Power, is pursuing a campaign of aggression against the Palestinian people, which began on 28 September 2000, and has escalated its campaign in an incremental manner. In this context, the failure of the Security Council to uphold its primary responsibility of maintaining peace and security is only encouraging such Israeli aggression against the Palestinian civilian population. We once again reiterate our call to the Security Council to uphold its responsibility and to take the necessary action in this regard, in particular the provision of protection for the Palestinian civilians, as well as ensuring compliance with relevant Security Council resolutions, international law, international humanitarian law and existing Palestinian-Israeli agreements.

I am writing this letter in follow-up to our previous 66 letters addressed to you regarding this grave and ongoing situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including Jerusalem, dated from 29 September 2000 to 27 August 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; A/ES-10/98-S/2001/717; A/ES-10/99-S/2001/742; A/ES-10/100-S/2001/754; A/ES-10/101-S/2001/783; A/ES-10/102-S/2001/785; A/ES-10/103-S/2001/798; A/ES-10/104-S/2001/812; A/ES-10/105-S/2001/814 and A/ES-10/107-S/2001/821.)

I regret to inform you that the two Palestinian martyrs mentioned above raise the number of Palestinians killed by Israeli occupying forces since last September to 585. (The names of the martyrs are contained in the annex to the present letter.) At the same time, the total number of Palestinian civilians injured, many severely and permanently, also continues to rise each day.

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

Chargé d’affaires a.i.

Annex to the identical letters dated 28 August 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*

(Tuesday, 28 August 2001)

Tuesday, 28 August 2001

1. Riyad Abu Zeinah

2. Unknown

______________

*Total number of Palestinian martyrs killed by Israeli occupying forces since 28 September 2000 = 585.