Mideast situation – Letter from Israel

Letter dated 5 March 2002 from the Permanent Representative of Israel

to the United Nations addressed to the Secretary-General

In the last 24 hours, Palestinian terrorists have continued to escalate their bloody campaign against Israeli civilians.

At approximately 2 a.m. (local time) this morning, a Palestinian gunman, armed with an M-16 semiautomatic rifle, opened fire on a crowded restaurant in central Tel Aviv. After using up his ammunition, the terrorist then ran towards the restaurant, hurling grenades and stabbing passers-by with a knife. Three Israelis — Salim Barakat, age 33, Yosef Abey, age 52, and Eli Dahan, age 53 — were killed in the attack, and more than 30 others were wounded, 2 of them seriously. The Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, a group belonging to Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat’s own Fatah faction, took responsibility for the attack.

This morning, at approximately 8 a.m. (local time), Devorah Friedman, age 45, and her husband, Yona, were travelling northward towards Jerusalem when their vehicle was ambushed by Palestinian terrorists. Friedman was killed in the attack and her husband sustained serious gunshot wounds. Palestinian gunmen also wounded an Israeli television reporter who arrived on the scene later.

Minutes after the killing of Devorah Friedman, a suicide bomber blew himself up aboard a public bus in the northern Israeli town of Afula. The blast killed one Israeli and wounded 10 others. Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility for the attack.

Later in the day, at approximately 6 p.m. (local time), two Kassam rockets were fired from Palestinian territory at the southern Israeli town of Sderot. One of the rockets landed on a residential apartment building, injuring three Israelis, two of them children.

These attacks are only the latest incidents in the ongoing Palestinian campaign of terrorism. Previous attacks have been detailed in letters dated 20 February 2002 (A/56/828-S/2002/185), 19 February 2002 (A/56/824-S/2002/174), 11 February 2002 (A/56/819-S/2002/164), 8 February 2002 (A/56/814-S/2002/155), 28 January 2002 (A/56/798-S/2002/126), 22 January 2002 (A/56/788-S/2002/104), 18 January 2002 (A/56/781-S/2002/86), 16 January 2002 (A/56/774-S/2002/73), 11 January 2002 (A/56/771-S/2002/47), 4 January 2002 (A/56/766-S/2002/25), 13 December 2001 (A/56/706-S/2001/1198), dated 4 December 2001 (A/56/678-S/2001/1150), 30 November 2001 (A/56/670-S/2001/1141), 28 November 2001 (A/56/668-S/2001/1133), 27 November 2001 (A/56/663-S/2001/1121), 12 November 2001 (A/56/617-S/2001/1071), 5 November 2001 (A/56/604-S/2001/1048), 24 October 2001 (A/54/406-S/2001/1011), 19 October 2001 (A/56/492-S/2001/990), 17 October 2001 (A/56/483-S/2001/975), 8 October 2001 (A/56/450-S/2001/948), 5 October 2001 (A/56/444-S/2001/943), 3 October 2001 (A/56/438-S/2001/938), 24 September 2001 (A/56/406-S/2001/907), 20 September 2001 (A/56/386-S/2001/892), 17 September 2001 (A/56/367-S/2001/875), 7 September 2001 (A/56/346-S/2001/858), 4 September 2001 (A/56/331-S/2001/840), 30 August 2001 (A/56/325-S/2001/834), 27 August 2001 (A/56/324-S/2001/825), 13 August 2001 (A/56/294-S/2001/787), 9 August 2001 (A/56/272-S/2001/768), 27 July 2001 (A/56/225-S/2001/743), 26 July 2001 (A/56/223-S/2001/737), 17 July 2001 (A/56/201-S/2001/706), 13 July 2001 (A/56/184-S/2001/696), 3 July 2001 (A/56/138-S/2001/662), 21 June 2001 (A/56/119-S/2001/619), 19 June 2001 (A/56/98-S/2001/611), 18 June 2001 (A/56/97-S/2001/604), 13 June 2001 (A/56/92-S/2001/585), 11 June 2001 (A/56/91-S/2001/580), 4 June 2001 (A/56/85-S/2001/555), 30 May 2001 (A/56/81-S/2001/540), 25 May 2001 (A/56/80-S/2001/524), 18 May 2001 (A/56/78-S/2001/506), 11 May 2001 (A/56/72-S/2001/473), 9 May 2001 (A/56/69-S/2001/459), 1 May 2001 (A/55/924-S/2001/435), 23 April 2001 (A/55/910-S/2001/396), 16 April 2001 (A/55/901-S/2001/364), 28 March 2001 (A/55/863-S/2001/291), 27 March 2001 (A/55/860-S/2001/280), 26 March 2001 (A/55/858-S/2001/278), 19 March 2001 (A/55/842-S/2001/244), 5 March 2001 (A/55/821-S/2001/193), 2 March 2001 (A/55/819-S/2001/187), 14 February 2001 (A/55/787-S/2001/137), 13 February 2001 (A/55/781-S/2001/132), 2 February 2001 (A/55/762-S/2001/103), 25 January 2001 (A/55/748-S/2001/81), 23 January 2001 (A/55/742-S/2001/71), 28 December 2000 (A/55/719-S/2000/1252), 22 November 2000 (A/55/641-S/2000/1114), 20 November 2000 (A/55/634-S/2000/1108) and 2 November 2000 (A/55/540-S/2000/1065).

Israel holds the Palestinian Authority and its Chairman, Yasser Arafat, directly responsible for these attacks. Chairman Arafat’s Fatah forces continue to be the leading Palestinian group carrying out acts of terror against Israelis. Rather than dismantling the infrastructure of terror, in accordance with repeated signed agreements with Israel and in conformity with the will of the international community, Chairman Arafat continues to encourage and support acts of violence against Israeli civilians.

The international community must unequivocally affirm that any deliberate targeting of civilians is absolutely unacceptable and, within the context of its campaign against terrorism, demand that the Palestinian leadership take genuine action against the terrorist organizations that it harbours in its territory. While Israel remains committed to reaching a negotiated peace settlement with the Palestinians on the basis of Security Council resolutions 242 (1967) and 338 (1973), the first step in this regard is that mandated by both the Mitchell Report and the Tenet understanding, namely a complete and unconditional cessation of violence. No political process can have any hope of bearing fruit while the Palestinian leadership condones attacks against Israeli civilians. Only once the Palestinian leadership rejects terrorism in both word and deed, as is its obligation, will the parties be able to move forward towards a future of peaceful coexistence.

I should be grateful if you would arrange to have the text of the present letter circulated as a document of the fifty-sixth session of the General Assembly, under agenda item 166, and of the Security Council.

(Signed) Yehuda Lancry
Permanent Representative