State of Palestine calls on international community to immediately act to stop settler attacks against Palestinians – Letter from State of Palestine

Identical letters dated 31 July 2015 from the Permanent Observer of the State of Palestine to the United Nations
addressed to the Secretary-General, the President of the General Assembly and the President of the Security Council

I regret to inform you that the situation of the Palestinian people under Israeli occupation remains dire owing to the repressive, destructive and colonial policies and practices that continue to be perpetrated by Israel, the occupying Power, in deliberate, systematic and grave violation of international humanitarian law and human rights law, and with total impunity.

Here, I must bring to your urgent attention the details of the heinous terrorist crime committed this morning by a group of terrorist settlers against a Palestinian family in the village of Duma, near Nablus. A group of Israeli terrorist settlers smashed the windows of two homes in Duma before throwing flammable liquids and Molotov cocktails inside. Ali Saad Dawabsha, an 18-month-old infant, was trapped inside the family's home as the fire spread, and died shortly after sustaining serious burns. His parents and four-year-old brother were left with severe burns. The mother is in critical condition, with third-degree burns covering 90 per cent of her body. The father had burns on 80 per cent of his body and the four-year-old son on 60 per cent, with all of their lives in danger.

The fact is that, whether at the hands of Israeli occupying forces or Israeli settlers, the lives of the Palestinian people in Occupied Palestine are in constant danger. Their fundamental human rights are being grossly violated as they endure horrific abuses to their bodies, minds and spirits and the destruction and usurpation of their land and properties. No segment of the Palestinian civilian population has been spared — whether children, women or men, the elderly or disabled, prisoners or detainees, or refugees or the displaced. With obvious intent, Israel continues to pursue policies and measures aimed at controlling every aspect of Palestinian life, forcibly subjugating the Palestinian people, collectively punishing, intimidating and dehumanizing them, causing harm, including death and injury to persons and destruction to property, and entrenching its illegitimate occupation.

We recall with sorrow the heinous crime perpetrated a year ago in the same month of July against a Palestinian child, Mohammed Abu Khdeir, 16 years of age, which shocked our consciences and broke our hearts. Mohammed was abducted from the street outside his home in Occupied East Jerusalem, beaten and driven to a forest, where he was burned alive by a gang of terrorist Israeli settlers.

We condemn in the strongest possible terms these heinous crimes, we hold the Israeli Government responsible for this terror and the culture of impunity in which Israeli settlers have so vilely and continuously assaulted Palestinian civilians and we join Mohammed's parents in demanding accountability for the killing of their child and in demanding justice for him and for all the Palestinian children who have been brutally killed by the occupying forces and settlers in the name of this illegitimate and belligerent occupation.

In this regard, we insist again that the Israeli Government, the Israeli occupying forces and Israeli settler militias belong on the list of grave violators of the rights of children in the context of the report of the Secretary-General on children and armed conflict, and we will not relent in calling for such listing in the face of ongoing violations and crimes against our innocent and defenceless children.

We expect the international community, especially the Security Council, to condemn these heinous acts and crimes committed against our people and to immediately act to stop the continuation of these crimes and to provide international protection to the Palestinian civilian population in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, since Israel, the occupying Power, has forfeited its responsibility in this regard.

The present letter is in follow-up to our 548 letters regarding the ongoing crisis in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, which constitutes the State of Palestine. These letters, dated from 29 September 2000 (A/55/432-5/2000/921) to 28 July 2015 (A/ES-10/685-5/2015/571), constitute a basic record of the crimes being committed against the Palestinian people by Israel, the occupying Power, for which it must be held accountable and the perpetrators brought to justice.

I should be grateful if you would arrange to have the present letter distributed as a document of the tenth emergency special session of the General Assembly, under agenda item 5, and of the Security Council.

(Signed) Riyad Mansour
Ambassador
Permanent Observer of the State of Palestine
to the United Nations