Illegal Israeli actions in OPT – Letter from Palestine

Identical letters dated 25 June 2001 from the Permanent Observer

of Palestine to the United Nations addressed to the Secretary-General

and to the President of the Security Council

Israel, the occupying Power, continues with its bloody military campaign against the Palestinian people, which began on 28 September 2000, in spite of its declaration concerning the ceasefire. Yesterday, Israel committed another war crime by assassinating Mr. Osama Fathi Al-Jawabra while he stood in a public telephone booth in the city of Nablus. Apparently, the telephone booth was booby-trapped, a method that has been used before by the Israeli occupying forces in committing such crimes against Palestinian civilians. In actuality, since 23 May 2001, the date of the Israeli declaration of the ceasefire, Israeli occupying forces have brutally killed 25 Palestinian civilians, including 4 Palestinians since my last letter to you, dated 18 June 2001 (A/ES-10/91-S/2001/605). These additional killings bring the total number of Palestinian civilians killed to 505 (see annex). In addition, the number of Palestinian civilians seriously injured as a result of the excessive use of force by the Israeli occupying forces and the perpetual violence by Israeli settlers continues to rise. This bloody military campaign, including Israeli war crimes and Israeli State terrorism, must be brought to an end, and the international community must bear its responsibility in this regard.

Moreover, Israel is also trying to destroy the Report of the Sharm El-Sheikh Fact-Finding Committee (Mitchell Report) through the invention of the notion of “separate stages” of implementation, as well as its refusal to implement some basic recommendations such as the full cessation of settlement activity. By doing so, Israel, the occupying Power, is effectively undermining the true chance of ending the current tragic situation on the ground and resuming peace negotiations.

Furthermore, I would also like to refer to the recent letters from the Israeli Permanent Representative to the United Nations addressed to the Secretary-General, which contain references to incidents against Israelis. These letters attempt to present those incidents as if they took place inside of Israel against Israeli civilians, where in fact they took place in the Occupied Palestinian Territory against Israeli colonialist settlers. Those Israeli settlers have been illegally transferred by the occupying Power to the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including Jerusalem, in grave breach of various instruments of international humanitarian law and in total violation of relevant Security Council resolutions and other United Nations resolutions. Moreover, Israeli settlers have been engaged in a daily terror campaign against the Palestinian civilian population during which they have shot civilians, blocked roads, burned orchards, destroyed infrastructures and have committed a wide range of other atrocities. Actions of those settlers and their own safety remain the responsibility of the occupying Power.

The Palestinian side remains fully committed to the full implementation of the recommendations of the Mitchell Report, and in this context remains committed to the Tenet work plan of the security aspect of the recommendations. What is immediately needed now is the complete timeline of the implementation of all the recommendations as a package consistent with the letter and spirit of the Report.

In closing, I am writing this letter in follow-up to my previous 51 letters addressed to you regarding this grave and ongoing situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including Jerusalem, dated from 29 September 2000 to 18 June 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 and A/ES-10/91-S/2001/605).

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) Nasser Al-Kidwa

Ambassador,

Permanent Observer of Palestine

to the United Nations

Annex to the identical letters dated 25 June 2001 from the Permanent Observer

of Palestine to the United Nations addressed to the Secretary-General

and to the President of the Security Council

Names of martyrs killed by Israeli occupying forces in the Occupied

Palestinian Territory, including Jerusalem,

Tuesday, 19 June, through Sunday, 24 June 2001*

Tuesday, 19 June 2001

Fatma El’yan Abu Farwah

Wednesday, 20 June 2001

Jamal Nafe’

Saturday, 23 June 2001

Muhamad Jamal Sewedan (18 years old)

Sunday, 24 June 2001

Osama Fathi Al-Jawabra

___________

*The total number of Palestinian martyrs killed by Israeli occupying forces since 28 September 2000 is 505.