Illegal Israeli actions in OPT – Letter from Palestine

Identical letters dated 26 July 2006 from the Permanent

Observer of Palestine to the United Nations addressed to the

Secretary-General and the President of the Security Council

Today, Israeli occupying forces killed 20 more Palestinians, including 2 infants, a 4-year-old baby girl and a 9-year-old girl, and injured over 80 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. It is my regret to inform you that since Monday, 24 July 2006, over 30 Palestinians have been killed by the Israeli occupying forces and hundreds have been injured, many seriously.

In the early morning hours of today (Palestine time), Israeli occupying forces, backed by over 50 tanks, armoured personnel vehicles and bulldozers, pushed 2 kilometres into northern Gaza, unleashing a barrage of fire power on the houses of the residents in the area. Unmanned Israeli drones also fired rockets indiscriminately at the Palestinian population in the vicinity. In addition, two journalists from Palestine television were injured by Israeli fire as they were covering the tragic events. During these attacks, Israeli armoured bulldozers razed and destroyed crops and agricultural land and other Palestinian civilian property in the area. Also today, Israeli occupying forces shelled a house in the Jabaliya refugee camp in the northern Gaza Strip, killing an 18-month-old infant and his 9-year-old sister. Four others were also injured during the same attack. Such disproportionate use of force by the occupying Power during its military attacks, which are a form of collective punishment against the Palestinian population in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, continues to place the lives of Palestinian civilians at grave risk. In this regard, we reiterate our call to the international community, in particular the Security Council, to take all measures to bring an end to the slaughter of innocent Palestinian civilians and the destruction of their property by the Israeli occupying forces. The international community must intervene to stop Israel’s onslaught against the defenseless and unprotected Palestinian civilian population, otherwise the number killed will continue to rise dramatically.

The letter is in follow-up to our previous 257 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 25 July 2006 (A/ES-10/350-S/2006/570), constitute a basic record of the crimes being committed by Israel, the occupying Power, against the Palestinian people since September 2000. Moreover, we reiterate that 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.

In follow-up to the above-mentioned letters, it is my profound regret that the 20 Palestinians killed today raise the total number of martyrs killed since September 2000 to 4,104. (The names of the martyrs that have been identified are listed in the annex to the present letter.)

I should be grateful if you would arrange to have 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) Riyad Mansour

Ambassador

Permanent Observer of Palestine to the United Nations

Annex to the identical letters dated 26 July 2006 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*

(Tuesday, 25 July 2006, to Wednesday, 26 July 2006)

Tuesday, 25 July 2006

Basheer Abu Zhaher (13 years old)

Wednesday, 26 July 2006

1. Sabah Nasser Habeeb (4 years old)

2. Maria Sameer Oakal (9 years old)

3. Shahid Sameer Oakal (18 months old)

4. Saleh Hassanain (18 years old)

5. Mohammad Haniyya (17 years old)

6. Mohammad Al-Bahteeni (16 years old)

7. Nabeel Zeino

8. Salam Al-Sa’oudi

9. Yahya Al-Sa’oudi

10. Husam Al-Sa’oudi

11. Azzam Al-Sa’oudi

12. Hisham Al-Sa’oudi

13. Majed Al-Hussaini

14. Mohammad Adas

15. Mahmoud Habeeb

16. Yasser Khamees Banat

17. Nafez Hanouna

18. Mahmoud Al-Barsh

19. Hani Hujaileh

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* The total number of Palestinian martyrs killed by the Israeli occupying forces since 28 September 2000 is 4,104.

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