It is time for genuine, practical measures to stop this absolute inhumanity, stop the killing, stop the forced transfer, stop the destruction and devastation- Letter from Palestine (A/ES-10/983-S/2024/157)

Agenda item 5

Illegal Israeli actions in Occupied East Jerusalem and the rest of the Occupied Palestinian Territory

Identical letters dated 9 February 2024 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

Just two days ago, I wrote to you once again urging immediate action to stop Israel’s genocidal war on the Gaza Strip, to stop its ethnic cleansing campaign and to protect the Palestinian people, who have suffered unimaginable trauma and loss, with nearly 28,000 Palestinians massacred and more than 67,000 people injured by the Israeli occupying forces during the past horrific four months.

Specifically, in my letter of 7 February, I warned: “As humanitarian needs and pressures mount in Rafah and Israeli attacks escalate, the risks are growing for a mass exodus of desperate families or forced transfer of the Palestinian population by Israel. This is a real and present danger that continues to be threatened by Israeli government officials who do not hide their aims to depopulate and settle Gaza”.

Today, the Israeli Prime Minister announced that he has commanded the Israeli occupying forces to “evacuate the population” in Rafah and to destroy the “battalions” that Israel claims are present there. The manifestation of these dangerous threats is upon us as, undeterred, Israel pushes forward with its criminal plans to once again force the Palestinian people out of their land.

Yet, still, the Security Council ignores our appeals for an immediate ceasefire and for protection of the Palestinian civilian population, disgracefully failing its Charter obligations and allowing Israel, the occupying Power, to proceed apace, killing, destroying and threatening the forced transfer of the 1.3 million Palestinian civilians now amassed in Rafah on the border with Egypt. The lives and fate of these 1.3 million terrified, vulnerable men, women and children, most of them forcibly displaced multiple times in these past four months and who have nowhere left to flee Israel’s terror campaign, are in imminent danger and on the conscience of all who fail to act.

We demand that the Security Council and all States act now to uphold their responsibilities, in accordance with international law and the relevant United Nations resolutions, and to protect the Palestinian people from this genocidal onslaught and real threat of forced transfer.

We recall that the General Assembly, in its resolution ES-10/21, and the Security Council, in its resolutions 2712 (2023) and 2720 (2023), specifically demanded, inter alia, the “rescinding of Israeli evacuation orders”, “firmly rejected any attempts at the forced transfer of the Palestinian civilian population” and reaffirmed “that civilian objects, including places of refuge, including within United Nations facilities and their surroundings, are protected under international humanitarian law, and rejects forced displacement of the civilian population, including children, in violation of international law, including international humanitarian law and international human rights law”.

The Security Council, General Assembly and all States must act now as a matter of utmost urgency to implement the above resolutions and to fulfil their outstanding obligations under international humanitarian law and human rights law to prevent Israel’s looming ethnic cleansing of Rafah and to protect the Palestinian civilian population from further atrocities at the hands of the occupying forces.

In this regard, I attach herewith, for immediate consideration and action, the statement issued today by the Palestinian leadership condemning the Israeli Prime Minister’s threats and calling upon everyone to bear their responsibilities to prevent another catastrophe on our people that will push the entire region into endless wars.

The time is long past for immediate, collective action to halt Israel’s war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide against our people. It is time for genuine, practical measures to stop this absolute inhumanity, stop the killing, stop the forced transfer, stop the destruction and devastation.

It is time for accountability. It is time for a ceasefire. It is time for protection. It is time for humanity to prevail. Not a minute more can be lost, we must save human lives and stop the downward spiral to hell that Israel is insisting on dragging our people and the entire region to.

The present letter is in follow-up to our 826 letters on the ongoing crisis in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, which constitutes the territory of the State of Palestine. These letters, dated from 29 September 2000 (A/55/432-S/2000/921) to 7 February 2024 (A/ES-10/982-S/2024/147) constitute a basic record of the crimes being committed by Israel, the occupying Power, against the Palestinian people since September 2000. For all of these war crimes, acts of State terrorism and systematic human rights violations against our people, Israel, the occupying Power, must be held accountable, and the perpetrators must be brought to justice.

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

Minister, Permanent Observer

Annex to the identical letters dated 9 February 2024 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

Presidency rejects Netanyahu’s remarks vowing to extend ground offensive into Rafah

Friday, 9 February 2024

The Palestinian Presidency has vehemently expressed its rejection and condemnation of the statements made by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu regarding plans to extend the ground Israeli onslaught to the overcrowded province of Rafah, in the farthest south of the Gaza Strip.

The Presidency said the move would entail the forcible displacement of Palestinian citizens from the province – already overcrowded with hundreds of thousands of displaced people from northern Gaza. It considered the move “a real threat and a dangerous prelude to implementing the rejected Israeli policy aimed at displacing the Palestinian people from their land”.

In a press statement, the Palestinian Presidency held the Israeli government fully responsible for the repercussions of this potential escalation, emphasizing the special responsibility of the United States administration to prevent what could be a disastrous escalation.

The Presidency affirmed that “the Palestinian people will not abandon their land and will not accept being forcibly displaced from their homeland”.

Additionally, the Palestinian Presidency called on the United Nations Security Council “to fulfil its responsibilities”, adding that “the Israeli occupation’s move threatens security and peace in the region and the world. This is a blatant violation of all red lines”.

“The time has come for everyone to bear their responsibility in the face of creating another catastrophe that will push the entire region into endless wars”.