Illegal Israeli actions in OPT – Letter from Palestine

Identical letters dated 25 August 2003 from the Permanent Observer of Palestine to the United Nations addressed to the Secretary-General and the President of the Security Council

Israel, the occupying Power, yesterday committed yet another extrajudicial killing. Helicopter gunships fired missiles at a car travelling in Gaza City, killing four Palestinian men and wounding at least eight other people. This war crime follows the extrajudicial killing committed three days prior, on 21 August 2003, when the Israeli occupying forces, using helicopter gunships, killed Mr. Ismail Abu Shanab, a political leader of Hamas, and two other Palestinian men in Gaza. Israel has claimed that these killings were committed in retaliation for the suicide bombing that occurred in West Jerusalem on Tuesday, 19 August. However, the fact remains that throughout the period since the unilateral declaration of a ceasefire (hudna) by Palestinian groups on 29 June 2003, Israel has not stopped its attacks on Palestinians, particularly those declared by the occupying Power to be “targeted” for assassination. This is tragically reflected in the annexed list of Palestinian martyrs. These killings have been carried out by the occupying Power in blatant violation of international law as well as in violation of the terms of the road map, which requires Israel to immediately end “violence against Palestinians everywhere”.

Furthermore, during this period, the Israeli occupying forces have continued to detain and imprison hundreds of Palestinians in addition to the thousands who continue to be held by the occupying Power, to demolish homes and to impose restrictions on the freedom of movement of persons and goods throughout the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem. Such actions and measures have impeded efforts to improve the situation on the ground and ameliorate the humanitarian crisis being faced by the Palestinian people. Moreover, in the past week, the Israeli occupying forces have made several incursions into Palestinian cities and towns, particularly Nablus, Jenin and Tulkarem.

It is clear that, from the very beginning, Mr. Sharon and his government have been bent on destroying the road map — or at the very least preventing its implementation — as they have done with previous peace efforts, such as the Mitchell recommendations and the Tenet plan. At this stage, Israeli officials are indicating that the extrajudicial killings, in addition to other war crimes being committed, will continue, thus ensuring the potentially catastrophic decline of the situation. As such, we believe that the international community, the members of the Quartet and the Security Council must intervene with the aim of stabilizing the situation on the ground and safeguarding and promoting peace efforts between the two sides.

The present letter is in follow-up to our previous 168 letters to you regarding the 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 27 June 2003 (A/ES-10/229-S/2003/677), constitute a basic record of the crimes committed by the Israeli occupying forces 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, I deeply regret to inform you that, since my last letter, at least 28 Palestinians, including women and children, have been killed by the Israeli occupying forces, raising the total number of martyrs to 2,510 Palestinians. (The names of the martyrs that have been identified thus far are contained 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) Nasser Al-Kidwa
Ambassador
Permanent Observer of Palestine to the United Nations

    Annex to the identical letters dated 25 August 2003 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 Israeli occupying forces in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including Jerusalem *
(Tuesday, 1 July 2003 through Sunday, 24 August 2003)

   Tuesday, 1 July 2003

  Nimer Taher Musa Jayusi

   Thursday, 3 July 2003

1.   Mohammed Shawir Mohammed Al-Nees

2.   Omar Mohammed Yussef Omar (15 years old)

   Saturday, 5 July 2003

  Majdi Abu Shlouf

   Wednesday, 9 July 2003

 Eyad Mohammed Akel Shalameesh

    Friday, 11 July 2003

  Yezzen Ibrahim Mahmoud Al-Tabil (11 years old)

   Thursday, 17 July 2003

  Ahmed Naji Zakariyah Shahouri (12 years old)

   Monday, 21 July 2003

  Rami Ali Khalil Saleet

   Friday, 1 August 2003

1.  Rawhi Hamouda Al-Hore 

2.   Ahmed Mohammed Al-Hindi (13 years old)

   Sunday, 3 August 2003

  Salman Mohammed Ahmed Abu-Ghalya

   Monday, 4 August 2003

  Nehad Riziq Mohammed Qassem

   Tuesday, 5 August 2003

  Munir Baker Hassen Abu-Heen (14 years old)

   Friday, 8 August 2003

1.  Khamees Yussef Abu Salem

2.  Fayez Fareed Hamid Al-Sadir

3.  Fawzi Ahmed Fawzi Al-Alami

4.  Mahmoud Tayseer Al-Tik 

    Thursday, 14 August 2003

 Mohammed Ayoub Dahoud Sidr 

    Tuesday, 19 August 2003

 Khadra Yussef Hussein ‘Ara

    Thursday, 21 August 2003

1.   Saeed Awad Ghanim (15 years old)

2.  Ismail Hassan Abu Shanab 

3.   Hani Majid Abu Al-Omaren

4.  Mo-min Mohammed Salman Barood

    Friday, 22 August 2003

 Khaled Al-Namrooti

    Sunday, 24 August 2003

1.  Ahmed Shatiwi

2.   Wahid Hamid Al-Hums

3.  Mohammed Abu Libdeh 

4.   Ahmed Abu Hilal

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 *   The total number of Palestinian martyrs killed by Israeli occupying forces since 28 September 2000 is 2,510.

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