Illegal Israeli actions in OPT – Letter from Palestine

Identical letters dated 11 December 2003 from the Permanent Observer of Palestine to the United Nations addressed to the Secretary-General and the President of the Security Council

  In grave breach of international law, including international humanitarian law, Israel, the occupying Power, continues to use excessive and indiscriminate force and to launch lethal military attacks against the Palestinian civilian population in the Occupied Palestinian Territory. Early today, the Israeli occupying forces carried out yet another raid in the densely populated Rafah refugee camp, a camp that has already suffered vast losses in terms of both human life and property as a result of the Israeli military campaign being waged against the Palestinian people over the past three years. The raid, which was conducted by Israeli ground forces consisting of more than 20 tanks and armoured vehicles and backed by helicopter gunships, was apparently launched for the purpose of carrying out the targeted killings of “militants”. During the attack, the occupying forces killed at least 6 Palestinians and wounded more than 17 people, including children, some of whom remain in critical condition. The occupying forces also demolished three homes in the area, leaving yet more Palestinian families dispossessed and homeless.

  Today’s raid in Rafah follows last week’s raids by the Israeli occupying forces in and around the city of Ramallah, in which at least four Palestinians were killed, including a nine-year-old boy, Muayad Mazen Abdelrahman Hamdan. At least two homes, one with four storeys, were also demolished by the occupying forces during those attacks, leaving several families homeless. Also, just two days ago, the occupying forces killed a 15-year-old boy, Faris Ibrahim Mohammed Abdelqader, from the Kalandiya refugee camp near Ramallah, as he and other youths were trying to remove parts of a fence being built around the city and the camp as part of the expansionist annexation wall that continues to be built by the occupying Power in direct violation of international law and the resolutions of the tenth emergency special session of the General Assembly.

  Tragically, the toll of death and destruction throughout the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, continues to rise almost daily, as reflected in the list of martyrs annexed to the present letter, and the situation on the ground continues to deteriorate as Israel continues to pursue all of its illegal policies and practices against the Palestinian people. Indeed, the occupying Power continues to confiscate Palestinian land and to destroy property and infrastructure for its settlement activities and its expansionist wall and continues to impose severe restrictions on the movement of persons and goods, including medical and humanitarian. Moreover, the occupying forces continue to arrest, detain and imprison thousands of Palestinians. Such persistent, illegal and provocative actions by Israel are exacerbating the tense situation on the ground and deepening the humanitarian crisis being faced by the Palestinian people. In this regard, it seems apparent that the occupying Power intensifies such actions whenever serious efforts are being exerted to end the cycle of violence and resume negotiations between the two sides, and thus it remains solely responsible for the ensuing results.

  The present letter is in follow-up to our previous 177 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 22 October 2003 (A/ES-10/247-S/2003/1031), 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, it is my profound regret to inform you that, since my last letter, at least 74 Palestinians, including children and women, have been killed by the Israeli occupying forces, including several people who died as a result of wounds sustained during the lethal Israeli military attacks carried out in Gaza City on 20 October 2003. The killing of these 74 Palestinian civilians raises the total number of Palestinian martyrs killed since September 2000 to 2,666. (The names of the martyrs that have been identified 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 an official document of the tenth emergency special session of the General Assembly, under agenda item 5, and of the Security Council.

(Signed) Dr. Nasser Al-Kidwa
Ambassador
Permanent Observer of Palestine to the United Nations

Annex to the identical letters dated 11 December 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 the Israeli occupying forces in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem *

(Thursday, 23 October, to Thursday, 11 December 2003)

    Thursday, 23 October 2003

1.  Rafik Mohammed Ziyad Yaqoub Aqtibi
2.   Ayoub Musbah Ayoub Al-Malik (died from wounds sustained on 20 October 2003)
3.  Ra’ed Saad Khaled
4.   Abdullah Abed Rabbo Ayad
5.  Bilal Said Abu Hamodeh
6.   Badr Mohammed Ahmed Musa Suleiman

   Friday, 24 October 2003

1.   Mohammed Tawfik Mahmoud Hithat (died from wounds sustained on 20 October 2003)
2.  Ibrahim Jouma’a Tabazeh (18 years old)
3.  Samir Mohammed Hamed Foudeh
4.  Mohammed Ahmed Al-Sarfandi
5.  Mohammed Ismail Alyan Hamideh

    Saturday, 25 October 2003

  Masoud Ali Ayyash (died from wounds sustained on 20 October 2003)

    Sunday, 26 October 2003

 Akram Hamed Bakroun (17 years old, died from wounds sustained on  21 October 2003)

   Monday, 27 October 2003

 Kareem Alyan Hussein Al-Kafarneh

    Tuesday, 28 October 2003

 Ibrahim Aref Ibrahim Na’nish

    Wednesday, 29 October 2003

1.  Salah Abdel Ghafar Asaad (16 years old, died from wounds sustained on 20 October 2003)
2.  Mohammed Subhi Awad
3.   Bahaa Jaber Mohammed Zubaidi (12 years old)
4.  Mohammed Hosni Hamad

    Thursday, 6 November 2003

1.  Imtiyaz Abbas Saleh Abu Ras
2.  Fayez Ahmed Mustafa Salameh

    Friday, 7 November 2003

1.  Mohammed Tawfik Al-Najjar
2.  Nazmi Fawzi Al-Najjar
3.  Mu’min Omar Al-Maghazi
4.   Mahmoud Sabri Al-Qayed (10 years old)
5.  Mohammed Nazmi Hasheesh
6.  Mohammed Mustafa Abu Nijmeh

    Saturday, 8 November 2003

1.  Ramzi Mohammed Jaradat
2.   Mohammed Abdelrahman Hasan Salah (18 years old)
3.   Ibrahim Rabie’ Dardouneh
4.  Mahmoud Omar Haboub
5.   Shadi Rafik Saeed Haboub
6.   Mu’taz Wasaf Mustafa ‘Amoodi (16 years old)

   Sunday, 9 November 2003

1.   Subhi Saleh Shareer (died from wounds sustained on 26 October 2003)
2.  Samer Suleiman Abu Assab (died from wounds sustained on 4 November 2003)
3.   Ahmed Muhanad Nafa’a Marei’e (10 years old, died from wounds sustained on 8 November 2003)

    Tuesday, 11 November 2003

  Shadi Na’im Abu Anzeh (14 years old)

    Wednesday, 12 November 2003

1.   Suboh Mazen Mohammed Suboh (14 years old, died from wounds sustained on 8 November 2003)
2.  Nahed Mohammed Kotkot (17 years old)

    Friday, 14 November 2003

 Hamdan Mahmoud Hindi Al-Arameen

    Saturday, 15 November 2003

  Ahmed Marwan Nasr Haneni (14 years old)

    Sunday, 16 November 2003

 Hassan Ziyadeh Ismail Abu Khileh

    Monday, 17 November 2003

 Yussef Taleb Ziyab Khider

    Tuesday, 18 November 2003

 Samir Omar Qishdeh

    Thursday, 20 November 2003

 Mohammed Suleiman Khalil Sarsoor

    Saturday, 22 November 2003

1.  Ahmed Fayez Yehiya Assaf
2.   Ibrahim Ahmed Ali Jalamneh (11 years old)

    Wednesday, 26 November 2003

1.  Hani Salem Al-Rubaieh
2.  Rashed Mohammed Abdelrahman Abu Shabaan (15 years old)

    Thursday, 27 November 2003

1.  Khaled Ahmed Al-Samiri
2.  Osama Suleiman Al-Samiri
3.  Ibrahim Musa Al-Samiri

   Friday, 28 November 2003

 Sayed Saleh Salem Abu Safreh

    Sunday, 30 November 2003

 Yussef Ismail Abu Matar

    Monday, 1 December 2003

1.  Sayed Abdelkareem Khidr Qasem
2.   Saleh Mahmoud Hussein Al-Talhmeh
3.   Muayad Mazen Abdelrahman Hamdan (9 years old)
4.   Hassanein Hamdi Hassanein Romaneh

    Tuesday, 2 December 2003

 Amjed Mahmoud Kamal Al-Saadi

    Wednesday, 3 December 2003

1.  Mohammed Ahmed Mohammed Zahran (18 years old)
2.   Dr. Hind Suleiman Al-Sharatheh

   Friday, 5 December 2003

  Jihad Musa Al-Akhras (17 years old)

    Saturday, 6 December 2003

1.  Abdelkareem Mohammed Arafat Sukar
2.   Ashraf Abdelsalam Al-Habah

   Monday, 8 December 2003

 Mohammed Eid Al-Tarabeen

    Tuesday, 9 December 2003

1.  Faris Ibrahim Mohammed Abdelqader (15 years old)
2.   Jihad Rasmi Aref Dofsh
3.  Hatem Shafik Abdelqader Al-Qawasmi

    Thursday, 11 December 2003

1.  Saber Ahmed Abu Loli
2.  Omar Fawzi Abu Muhsen
3.   Nasser Mohammed Abu Najah
4.  Eid Mohammed Al-Mahmoum
5.   Mohammed Rajab Zeino
6.  Suleiman Mohammed Al-Akhras (17 years old)

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 * The total number of Palestinian martyrs killed by Israeli occupying forces since 28 September 2000 is 2,666.

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