{"id":181119,"date":"1973-04-11T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2019-03-11T21:08:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/?p=181119"},"modified":"2019-03-11T21:08:23","modified_gmt":"2019-03-11T21:08:23","slug":"auto-insert-181119","status":"publish","type":"document","link":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/document\/auto-insert-181119\/","title":{"rendered":"Mideast situation\/Attacks on PLO leaders – Letter from Lebanon"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n\t\t\t\tLETTER DATED 11 APRIL 1973 FROM THE PERMANENT REPRESENTATIVE OF LEBANON TO THE UNITED NATIONS ADDRESSED TO THE PRESIDENT OF THE SECURITY COUNCIL\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n
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On instructions from my Government, I have the honour to bring to your <\/i>attention the following:<\/p><\/div>\n

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At 1 a.m., 10 April 1973, Israeli naval units landed on the shores of El-Ouzai in the southern outskirts of Beirut, capital of Lebanon, a squad of Israeli terrorists numbering about 35 persons.<\/p><\/div>\n

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Israel has clearly admitted and widely publicized the fact that units of her armed forces mounted that operation in Lebanon. The raiders were disguised in' civilian clothing. It has become evident that agents, hitherto unknown, have parked civilian cars bearing Lebanese registration plates in the vicinity of the landing area, to be used by the invading party.<\/p><\/div>\n

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The Israeli marauders drove away in the cars towards predetermined objectives. One group went to Rue Verdun, a peaceful residential area in Beirut. They burst into one apartment building with their guns blazing and murdered in gangsters' style Mr. Yussef El-Najjar, known as Abou-Yussef, and his wife who attempted to shield him from the attackers. Mr. El-Najjar was a member of the executive committee of the Palestinian Liberation Organization. In the same building, they attacked the apartment of Mr. Kanial Nasser, a poet and intellectual who acted <\/span>as <\/span>the spokesman for the Palestinian Liberation Organization, and assassinated him, also in a cold-blooded fashion.<\/span><\/p><\/div>\n

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The raiders attacked another apartment in the vicinity where they murdered likewise Mr. Kaanal Adwan, another Palestinian leader. An Italian lady <\/span>living <\/span>in that area was killed. <\/span>A <\/span>force of the Lebanese police rushed to the scene <\/span>Ea <\/span>d was immediately met with a hail of fire from the attackers. Two of the<\/span><\/p><\/div>\n

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policemen were killed and <\/span>9 <\/span>were wounded. An army officer living in the vicinity who came out to find out what was happening was also shot by the attackers and wounded.<\/span><\/p><\/div>\n

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Another group of Israelis attacked and blew up a building in the street of El-Fikany, while another attacked and blew up a garage belonging to a Palestinian and situated in the northern district of Beirut, called Al-Dawrah.<\/p><\/div>\n

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In the area of El-Ouzai, they blew up a building where two Lebanese civilians and three Syrian labourers were killed. Another Israeli murder-squad landed near Sidon, south of Beirut, and attacked a garage which the Israelis later claimed belonged to the Palestinian Organization of Al-Fatah.<\/p><\/div>\n

\n\t\t\t\tAs a result of all these criminal operations, 12 people were killed:\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n
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2 Lebanese policemen, 2 Lebanese civilians, 3 Syrian labourers, <\/span>4 <\/span>Palestinians and an Italian woman; 29 persons, all Lebanese, were wounded.<\/span><\/p><\/div>\n

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In my letter to the President of the Security Council, dated 21 February <\/span>1973 (5\/10885), <\/span>I brought to the attention of the Council a similar attack conducted by terrorist groups belonging to the Israeli armed forces, on the Palestinian refugee camps situated in northern Lebanon at Badawi and Nahr El-Bared, where scores of people were killed and wounded, and many houses destroyed. The Lebanese Government strongly protested against those barbaric acts carried out by the Israeli armed forces under direct Government orders, in violation of the Charter of the United Nations, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the Lebanese\/Israeli Armistice Agreement.<\/span><\/p><\/div>\n

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On this occasion, the Lebanese Government reiterates its strongest protest against and condemnation of the repetitions of those acts by Israel.<\/p><\/div>\n

\n\t\t\t\tThe Lebanese Government calls the attention of the Council to the following:\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n
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1.\t<\/span>The repeated criminal operations undertaken by units of the Israeli allied led forces in Lebanon are in pursuance of a policy of intimidation and State terrorism, planned and conducted with premeditation and without any provocation from Lebanon, against Lebanese civilian areas, centres and population.<\/p><\/div>\n

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2.\t<\/span>The numerous acts of aggression conducted during the last five years by Israel against Lebanon and the civilian population have been denounced by the whole civilized world and condemned by the Security Council. Israel was solemnly warned by the Council against their repetition. However, the Israeli Government in <\/span>its <\/span>traditional defiance of Security Council resolutions and of international <\/span>law, <\/span>has persisted in her campaign of aggression and terror against Lebanon.<\/span><\/p><\/div>\n

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3\t<\/span><\/span>The Israeli Government has escalated its insolent policy of terror by publicly declaring, on many occasions, that it will attack the Palestinian people, wherever they may be, at any time, and by all measures without having to invoke the slightest pretext. This condemnable and ruthless policy which stems from Israel's arrogance of power has as an objective either to exterminate the Palestinian people, or to force them to surrender their legitimate rights.<\/span><\/p><\/div>\n

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4. <\/span>It is a fact, known by all, that Lebanon which is traditionally a land of refuge and has always pursued a humanist policy, has harboured since 1948 about 300,000 Palestinians, driven out of their homeland by Zionist terrorists. Twenty-five years later, the majority of those refugees continue to live in misery and despair in refugee camps, supported by the United Nations. An end to their agony does not appear to be in sight.<\/span><\/p><\/div>\n

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All efforts by the United Nations to find a solution to their problem as well as to the conflict of the Middle East have been deliberately and systematically scuttled by the Israeli Government, which assumes the prime responsibility for the continuation of unsettled conditions and tension in the Middle East.<\/p><\/div>\n

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5.\t\t<\/span><\/span>The fact that these Palestinians live in such conditions in Lebanon and maintain their determination to recuperate their rights cannot impute to the Lebanese Government any responsibility for any act undertaken by individual Palestinians outside of Lebanon. The cycle of violence which is gripping the Middle East is but a result of Israel's stubborn refusal to recognize the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people and to engage in an earnest effort to solve their problem, on the basis of justice and of United Nations resolutions.<\/span><\/p><\/div>\n

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6.\t\t<\/span><\/span>The Israeli Government pretends that in conducting its operations against Lebanon, it is engaged in war acts.<\/span><\/p><\/div>\n

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(a)\t<\/span>Acts of warfare, aggression and terrorism undertaken by Israel against Lebanon are in flagrant violation of United Nations resolutions and decisions and of the Lebanese\/Israeli Armistice Agreement of <\/span>1949, <\/span>sanctioned by a decision of the Security Council. Israel has unilaterally denounced this Armistice Agreement. The United Nations has maintained that the Agreement remains valid and in force and could not be denounced unilaterally by any one of the parties to it.<\/span><\/p><\/div>\n

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(b)\t<\/span>Even the pretexts Israel invokes in justification of her operations against Lebanon are in flagrant violation of international law and particularly The Hague Convention" of <\/span>1907, <\/span>which forbids the armed forces of any nation . to resort to perfidious methods.<\/span><\/p><\/div>\n

\n\t\t\t\tIt is therefore apparent that the operations conducted in Beirut and Sidon\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n
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in the early hours of 10 April 1973 by units belonging to the Israeli armed forces are nothing but perfidious criminal acts organized by a State Government, Member of the United Nations against another State Member, in flagrant violation of international law and of all norms of international behaviour and morality.<\/p><\/div>\n

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It is cynical that Mrs. Golda Meir, the Prime Minister of Israel, attempts to gloss these gangster-like operations as "very marvellous'' about which "shining pages will be written'".<\/p><\/div>\n

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As a matter for the record, those acts should be inscribed in the dark pages of Israel's history of aggressions in the Middle East. They should for ever be reminders of the King David and Deir Yassine massacres and of the countless tragedies Israel visited upon the Arab people of Palestine.<\/p><\/div>\n

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They should seriously remind members of the Security Council that Israel's unbridled behaviour cannot but heighten the tension in the Middle East and gravely endanger peace and security in the area and the world.<\/p><\/div>\n

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The Lebanese Government has ever been mindful of its obligations under the Charter and persistently pursued a policy to promote and to help in the promote of conditions of peace in the area as everywhere else. It has therefore brought to the attention of the Council the repeated breaches by Israel of Lebanon's territorial integrity and sovereignty, and her acts of aggression against the peaceful population of Lebanon. It has been the hope of the <\/span>Lebanese Government.;: <\/span>and people that the Security Council, entrusted by the Charter with the prime responsibility for maintaining peace and security, will take the <\/span>necessary steps <\/span>and measures to put an end to Israel's actions undertaken in defiance of the Council's decisions and warnings.<\/span><\/p><\/div>\n

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By bringing once more to the attention of the Council the new Israeli blatant act of aggression against Lebanon, we reiterate once more our hope that the Council will take it into serious consideration.<\/p><\/div>\n

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I have the honour to request that this letter be circulated as an official document of the Security Council.<\/p><\/div>\n

\n\t\t\t\t(Signed)<\/u> Edouard GHORRA Ambassador\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n
\n\t\t\t\tPermanent Representative\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

LETTER DATED 11 APRIL 1973 FROM THE PERMANENT REPRESENTATIVE OF LEBANON TO THE UNITED NATIONS ADDRESSED TO THE PRESIDENT OF THE SECURITY COUNCIL On instructions from my Government, I have the honour to bring to your attention the following: At 1 a.m., 10 April 1973, Israeli naval units landed on the shores of El-Ouzai in […]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"country":[933],"document-category":[2841],"document-source":[1362],"committee-meeting":[],"document-subject":[1829,1857,1813,1965],"entity":[1985,1729],"document-language":[6542],"class_list":["post-181119","document","type-document","status-publish","hentry","country-lebanon","document-category-letter","document-source-security-council","document-subject-casualties","document-subject-incidents","document-subject-middle-east-situation","document-subject-situation-in-lebanon","entity-state","entity-united-nations-system","document-language-english"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document\/181119","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/document"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document\/181119\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=181119"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"country","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/country?post=181119"},{"taxonomy":"document-category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document-category?post=181119"},{"taxonomy":"document-source","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document-source?post=181119"},{"taxonomy":"committee-meeting","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/committee-meeting?post=181119"},{"taxonomy":"document-subject","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document-subject?post=181119"},{"taxonomy":"entity","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/entity?post=181119"},{"taxonomy":"document-language","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document-language?post=181119"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}