Mideast situation/OPT/Int’l Peace Conference under A/RES/38/58 C – Letter from CEIRPP Chairman

Letter dated 12 January 1988 from the Chairman of the

Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of

the Palestinian People 

In my capacity as Chairman of the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People, I wish once again to draw your urgent attention to the continuing deterioration of the situation in the occupied Palestinian territories owing to the policies and practices of Israel, the occupying Power, including the use of live ammunition against demonstrators, mass arrests, detentions and deportations.

A number of grave incidents have taken place since my letter of 5 January 1988 (A/43/77-S/19405).  On 8 January, the UPI and The New York Times reported that Israeli troops fired on Palestinian demonstrators in the refugee camps of Nuseirat and Mughazi, south of Gaza City, killing a young Palestinian and injuring six others.  Another young Palestinian from the Mughazi camp died of wounds inflicted a day earlier.

The New York Times reported on 11 January 1988 that on 10 January two Palestinians were killed, including a pregnant woman who died of tear-gas inhalation, and as many as 50 others were wounded by Israeli troops during demonstrations throughout the Gaza Strip. Another Palestinian died of gunshot wounds sustained in an earlier incident in the village of Rafa. The Israeli army was also reported to have sent large reinforcements into the Gaza Strip and to have declared most of the area a closed military zone, barred to journalists and others.

On 11 January, Reuters reported that two more Palestinians were killed by the army in Khan Younis, Gaza Strip, and another young Palestinian was shot dead and one was wounded by Jewish settlers in Beitin, the West Bank. Several Palestinians were also injured by bullets in both incidents. The total number of dead has reached at least 35 since the beginning of the Protests last month.

According to Reuters, Israeli authorities disclosed on 8 January that at least 30 Palestinians from the West Bank and Gaza were placed under administrative detention without trial for up to six months.  A total number of almost 2,000 Palestinians have been arrested, the majority of whom remain gaoled awaiting trial in the military courts.

The Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People wishes to express once again its utmost concern at these policies and practices of Israel in the occupied territories, which are in clear violation of the human rights of the Palestinian people, of United Nations resolutions and of the Fourth Geneva Convention of 12 August 1949.  The Committee wishes to recall that the Security Council, in its resolutions 605 (1987) of 22 December 1987 and 607 (1988) of 5 January 1988, has requested Israel, the occupying Power, to abide by its obligations arising under the Convention.

The Committee appeals to you to take all possible measures for alleviating the suffering of the Palestinians under Israeli occupation and for ensuring their safety and protection.  Further, the Committee appeals to you to intensify your efforts to bring about a comprehensive, just and lasting solution to the question of Palestine, in accordance with United Nations resolutions, in particular through the convening of the International Peace Conference on the Middle East, pursuant to General Assembly resolution 38/58 C of 13 December 1983.

I should be grateful if you would arrange for the text of this letter to be circulated as a document of the General Assembly, under the item entitled "Question of Palestine", and of the Security Council.

(Signed) Massamba SARRE

Chairman of the Committee on

the Exercise of the Inalienable

Rights of the Palestinian People