You are here: Home / Archives for 2014

Archives for 2014

17 July 2014 – Continuing Killing of Palestinian Children By Israeli Military Aggression

24 July 2014 by

Excellency,

I write to you today to convey that tragically yesterday, Wednesday, 16 July 2014, marked the highest number of child fatalities in a 24-hour period since the beginning of Israel’s barbaric aggression against the Palestinian civilian population in the Gaza Strip began 10 days ago.  According to reports, the Israeli occupying forces killed 23 Palestinians yesterday, including 3 women and 9 children – 7 boys and 2 girls.

Among the dead were Ismail (age 9), Ahed (age 10), Mohammed (age 10) and Zakariya (age 10), brothers and cousins in the Baker family, who were murdered by the occupying forces, who fired at them as they were playing on the beach in Gaza City.  The number of children killed by such Israeli war crimes in Gaza stands in the recent period now stands at 47. The killing of these young boys was witnessed by many journalists on the scene.  One journalist, Peter Beaumont of The Guardian, who witnessed the attack, stated the following:

“The first projectile hit the sea wall of Gaza City’s little harbour a little after four o’clock. As the smoke from the explosion thinned, four figures could be seen running, ragged silhouettes, legs pumping furiously along the wall. Even from a distance of 200 metres, it was obvious that three of them were children.

Jumping off the harbour wall, they turned on to the beach, attempting to cross the short distance to the safety of the Al-Deira hotel, base for many of the journalists covering the Gaza conflict.

They waved and shouted at the watching journalists as they passed a little collection of brightly coloured beach tents, used by bathers in peacetime. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Identical Letters Tagged With: ,

Statement by Ambassador Dr. Riyad Mansour before the United Nations Security Council Open Debate on the Situation in the Middle East, including the Palestine Question, 22 July 2014

23 July 2014 by

Mr. President,

I thank you for your skilled stewardship of the Security Council this month and the efforts to address the crisis being faced by the Palestinian people, particularly due to the Israeli military aggression in the Gaza Strip.  I thank Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon for his briefing and convey our deep gratitude to him for undertaking an emergency mission to the region in support of the regional and international efforts to secure an urgent ceasefire based on the Egyptian initiative and with the active engagement of President Mahmoud Abbas and other concerned parties.

Today, we also recognize the efforts of UN Special Coordinator Robert Serry on the ground, including with regard to the calls for the humanitarian pause, and the valiant efforts of UN agencies on the ground, including UNRWA, under the leadership of Commissioner-General Pierre Krahenbuhl, and OCHA, under the leadership of Under-Secretary-General Valerie Amos, and the other UN agencies and humanitarian organizations, including the ICRC, that are providing vital emergency assistance to the Palestinian people at this time of crisis.

Mr. President,

Regrettably, despite all of these regional and international efforts, hundreds more Palestinian civilians have been killed, thousands have been injured and tens of thousands have been displaced by the Israeli military aggression in Gaza since we last came before the Security Council on Friday.

Israeli bombardment – including missile airstrikes, bombs and artillery shelling by air, land and sea at densely-populated civilian areas – has also resulted in the destruction of more than 1,000 homes and damage to more than 18,000 other homes.  Fear and panic have gripped the population, leading to displacement of more than 100,000 people, who are now sheltering in UNRWA schools, already double the number of Palestinians who sought refuge in the Agency’s schools in the Israeli war on Gaza of 2008-2009.  Here, we urgently appeal for efforts to address the immense humanitarian needs of the Palestinian civilians in Gaza, including through donor support to UNRWA emergency appeals. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Statements

18 July 2014 — Statement by Ambassador Dr. Riyad Mansour before the United Nations Security Council, Emergency Meeting

18 July 2014 by

 

Mr. President,

We have called for this emergency meeting of the Security Council due to the existential crisis being faced by the Palestinian people under Israeli occupation.  With every moment that passes, the life of another Palestinian child or mother or father is cruelly taken by the Israeli occupying forces in their murderous rampage of airstrikes and artillery bombardment against civilian areas and now a massive ground invasion in the Gaza Strip, threatening the safety and survival of the entire Palestinian civilian population. As we were driving to this meeting, four additional children were killed. There names are: Rizeq Al Hayek (age 2), Sarah Bustan (age 13), Imad Ilwan (age 7)  Qasem Ilwan (age 10).

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Statements Tagged With: , , ,

17 July 2014 — Israeli aggression, incitement and targeting of children

17 July 2014 by

Excellency,

I write to you today to convey that tragically yesterday, Wednesday, 16 July 2014, marked the highest number of child fatalities in a 24-hour period since the beginning of Israel’s barbaric aggression against the Palestinian civilian population in the Gaza Strip began 10 days ago.  According to reports, the Israeli occupying forces killed 23 Palestinians yesterday, including 3 women and 9 children – 7 boys and 2 girls.

Among the dead were Ismail (age 9), Ahed (age 10), Mohammed (age 10) and Zakariya (age 10), brothers and cousins in the Baker family, who were murdered by the occupying forces, who fired at them as they were playing on the beach in Gaza City.  The number of children killed by such Israeli war crimes in Gaza stands in the recent period now stands at 47. The killing of these young boys was witnessed by many journalists on the scene.  One journalist, Peter Beaumont of The Guardian, who witnessed the attack, stated the following:

“The first projectile hit the sea wall of Gaza City’s little harbour a little after four o’clock. As the smoke from the explosion thinned, four figures could be seen running, ragged silhouettes, legs pumping furiously along the wall. Even from a distance of 200 metres, it was obvious that three of them were children.

Jumping off the harbour wall, they turned on to the beach, attempting to cross the short distance to the safety of the Al-Deira hotel, base for many of the journalists covering the Gaza conflict.

They waved and shouted at the watching journalists as they passed a little collection of brightly coloured beach tents, used by bathers in peacetime.

It was there that the second shell hit the beach, those firing apparently adjusting their fire to target the fleeing survivors. As it exploded, journalists standing by the terrace wall shouted: “They are only children.” In the space of 40 seconds, four boys who had been playing hide and seek among the fishermen’s shacks built on the wall were dead.”

In addition to the killing of the four boys, yesterday, another 4 Palestinians were killed when Israeli strikes targeted them near Al-Katibal mosque west of Khan Younis.  A small girl, Yasmin Al-Astal (age 4), a boy Osama Al-Astal (age 6) and Raqiyya Al-Astal (age 70) were among the dead and many others were injured.  In another war crime yesterday, a missile was fired from an Israeli drone at a civilian taxi in Bani Suheila west of Khan Younis, killing several members of yet another Palestinian family.  The family was on their way home from a hospital where they were visiting a family member injured in an Israeli air strike in the previous days.  Ibrahim Ramadan Abu Daqqa (age 10),  his brother Amro Ramadan Abu Daqqa (age 25), and their sister Madeline Abu Daqqa (age 27), a pregnant mother of three, died along with their elderly grandmother, Khadra Abu Daqqa, all killed instantly by the wanton and deliberate attacks being perpetrated by the occupying Power.

In addition to the cold-blooded killing of these Palestinian civilians, many more have been killed and more than 1700 have been injured by over 1800 Israeli airstrikes thus far against the besieged Gaza Strip.  Moreover, in the past ten days, 695 homes have been completely destroyed with another 640 homes partially destroyed, and 81 schools have been destroyed or damaged, along with 3 hospitals and 5 other health centers, exacerbating the health crisis in Gaza, where there is a dire and growing need for medicines and medical equipment, already in short supply due to the blockade.  Religious sites also continue to be hit by Israeli airstrikes, including 3 mosques which have been completely destroyed and another 64 mosques that have been seriously damaged.  Moreover, more than 22,600 people have been displaced and more than 900,000 people are affected by the destruction of electricity, water and sanitation infrastructures.

In addition to the rampage of killing and destruction, the culture of Israeli incitement and hatred continues to intensify, deliberately aimed at terrorizing and causing harm to our people.  Among the many examples of this are the condemnable actions by Israeli citizens in the town of Sderot who have set up lounge chairs and couches on a hilltop to watch the bombs reign down on the Gaza Strip, cheering the death of Palestinian women and children, while they eat popcorn.  Members of the Israeli government also continue to incite and call for the ethnic cleansing of the Palestinian people.  In just one abhorrent example, Ayelet Shaked, a member of the “Jewish Home” party, issued a call on Facebook to ethnically cleanse the land, declaring “the entire Palestinian people is the enemy”.  She advocated their complete destruction, “including its elderly and its women,” adding that they must be slaughtered, otherwise they might give birth to more “little snakes.”

Moreover, many Israelis continue to post hate-filled comments against Palestinians on social media outlets, inciting to further violence and terror against our people.  After yesterday’s killing of four boys by the occupying Power, Israelis posted racist, vulgar rants all over social media, including, for example: “it’s a shame it wasn’t 400,000 dead kids”, “Have more of them killed like cockroaches, go away,” and “I hope all of you die, stinking people, garbage Arabs.”  We condemn in the strongest terms such incitement and provocations and calls for violence against the Palestinian people. We call on the international community to strongly condemn all such forms of Israeli incitement, as well as the hate crimes that continue to be perpetrated against Palestinian civilians, and to compel Israel to take action against perpetrators and bring them to justice.

While the Palestinian leadership welcomed the humanitarian cease-fire called for yesterday by the UN, more must be done to stop this aggression and alleviate the humanitarian hardships of the Palestinian people in Gaza.  We express hope that ongoing efforts by all concerned parties, with which President Mahmoud Abbas is actively engaging, will bring about a permanent cease-fire in order to avert the loss of more innocent human life.  At the same time, we reiterate our urgent call to the Security Council to uphold its Charter duties and undertake action to bring an end to this Israeli aggression and protect the Palestinian civilian population from Israel’s crimes.  Israel, the occupying Power, must be held accountable for all of its violations of international law and international humanitarian law.  Moreover, the 8-year-old illegal Israeli blockade of Gaza must be lifted in order to end the socio-economic and humanitarian deprivation of our people.  The international community, in particular the High Contracting Parties to the 4th Geneva Convention, is also duty bound to ensure compliance by the occupying Power.  The history of the Palestinian people has already been marked by indescribable trauma, terror and loss a result of Israel’s 47-year-old occupation and it is high time for the international community to rectify this injustice by acting with urgency and conscience to bring an end to the suffering of the Palestinian people at the hands of the occupying Power and allow them to achieve their rights and live as a free people in their own independent State.

This letter is in follow-up to our 507 letters regarding 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 14 July 2014 (A/ES-10/xxx-S/2014/xxx) 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 being committed against the Palestinian 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 text of 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.

 

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: , , ,

14 July 2014 — Israel’s Brutal Aggression against the Palestinian People

14 July 2014 by

Excellency,

I write to you to reiterate our urgent appeals that all possible measures be undertaken by the international community to provide immediate protection to the Palestinian civilian population throughout the entire Occupied State of Palestine, especially in the besieged Gaza Strip, against the ongoing savagery and military aggression being perpetrated by Israel, the occupying Power. The number and facts surrounding Israel’s latest war crimes and acts of State terrorism against the Palestinian people are beyond alarming.   [Read more…]

Filed Under: Identical Letters Tagged With:

11 July 2014 — Continuation of the Israeli aggression on the Palestinian People

11 July 2014 by

Excellency,

Over the past 48 hours, Israel, the occupying Power, has continued with its savage military campaign against the Palestinian civilian population in the besieged Gaza Strip, wreaking ever more havoc, death and destruction and declaring the intention to continue attacks, endangering many more innocent lives.  We condemn in the strongest terms this barbaric Israeli aggression and the continued perpetration of State terror against the Palestinian people. We reiterate our call for immediate protection for the Palestinian civilian population from this murderous and criminal Israeli rampage.

Since my last letter, on 9 July, the Israeli occupying forces carried out hundreds more bombings and missile strikes targeting hundreds of locations in Gaza.  Reports indicate that, since the start of this aggression, more than 100 Palestinians have been killed.  This lethal campaign has also wounded over 700 other Palestinians, some critically wounded and struggling for their lives.  The casualties have tragically included dozens of children, among them many children under the age of 5, women and elderly persons, many persons of the same families as well as the killing of entire families.   The following are just some of the names of the Palestinians brutally, willfully murdered by the occupying Power over the past 48 hours:

Salem Qandeel, Amer Al-Fayouni, Bahaa Abu Elail were killed by a strike on their car north of Gaza City;

Mahmoud Al-Haj, Tariq Saad Al-Haj, Saad Mahmoud Al-Haj, Omar Al-Haj, Najla Mahmoud Al-Haj, Amina Al-Haj -all from the same family- were killed by an airstrike on their home west of Khan Younis;

Raed Shalat (age 30) was killed by an airstrike on his home in Al-Nuseirat camp, which also injured his wife and their three children;

Ibrahim Khalil Qanan (age 24) and his brother Mohammed Khalil Qanan (age 25), Ibrahim Swali (age 33) and his brother Mohammed Swali (age 28), Salem Al-Astal (age 55), Mohammed Al-Ackad (age 24) were killed by an Israeli airstrike at crowd that had gathered at a beach café Khan Younis;

Abdullah Abu Ghazl (age 4) was killed and his brother injured by an Israeli airstrike on their home in the Jabaliya refugee camp in northern Gaza;

Hussein Abu Jamei (age 57) and his son Ismail (age 19) were killed by strike on their home in Khan Younis;

Mohammed Ihsan Farawneh (age 19) was killed in an airstrike in Khan Younis;

Mahmoud Wloud, Hazem Baalousha, Alaa Abdel Nabi were all killed by an airstrike on their car in the Al-Saftawi neighborhood in northern Gaza Strip;

Yasmeen Al-Mutaweq (age 4) was killed by an airstrike in southern Gaza Strip;

Ahmed Zaher Hamdan (age 22) died of injuries he sustained in an Israeli airstrike in the previous days;

Mohammed Al-Kahlout was killed in an airstrike east of Jabaliya refugee camp;

Sami Adnan Shildan (age 25) was killed in an airstrike on Al-Zaitoun neighborhood of Gaza City;

Shahd Helmi Al-Qarnawi (age 5) died of injuries she sustained in an Israeli airstrike in the previous days;

AbdelHalim Ashra (age 54) was found under the rubble of his home which was hit by an Israeli war plane in Deir Al-Balah;

Abdallah Abu Mahrouq died of injuries he sustained during an Israeli strike yesterday, 10 July, while he was on his motorcycle in Deir Al-Balah;

Anas  Rizq Abu Al-Kas (age 30) was killed in a strike on Burj Tal Al-Hawa west of Gaza City;

Adnan  Salem Al-Ashhab (age 40) was killed in a strike south of Gaza City;

Mazen Aslan and Shahraman Abu Al-Kas were killed in a strike in Al-Breij camp in central Gaza;

Mohammed Rabii Abu Hmaidan (age 65) was killed by an airstrike in Beit Lahia;

Wisam Abdel Razeq Ghannam (age 23), Mahmoud Abdel Razeq Ghannam, Kifah Shehada (age 20), Ghalia Deeb Ghannam (age 7), Mohammed Mounir Ashour (age 25), were all killed by strike on their home in Rafah;

Nour Marwan Al-Najdi (age 10), was killed by an airstrike on Al-Nahda neighborhood in Rafah;

Saber Sukkar (age 80), Hussein Mohammed Al-Mamlouk (age 47) died of injuries sustained in an Israeli airstrike on Al-Shujaiah neighborhood in Gaza City.

For all of these heinous crimes against the Palestinian people, Israel must be held fully accountable and justice must be achieved for the victims. The failure to do so will only embolden Israel’s impunity, further exacerbating this conflict and deepening the already-grave suffering of the Palestinian people under this illegitimate occupation.  In this connection, we reiterate our urgent call on the international community to act collectively and responsibly to address this crisis. The duties of the international community, including the Security Council, are clear and must be respected and upheld.  International law, including humanitarian and human rights law, must be upheld and must not be allowed to be so flagrantly dismissed without consequence. Immediate action must be undertaken in particular by the Security Council in accordance with its Charter authority to bring a halt to Israel’s onslaught against the Palestinian people and to extinguish the flames of this most recent, deadly cycle of violence that has already claimed too many innocent civilian lives.

This letter is in follow-up to our 505 letters regarding 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 9 July 2014 (A/ES-10/xxx-S/2014/xxx) 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 being committed against the Palestinian 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 text of 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.

Filed Under: Identical Letters Tagged With: , ,

10 July 2014 – Statement by Ambassador Dr. Riyad Mansour, Permanent Observer of the State of Palestine to the United Nations, before the United Nations Security Council, Emergency Meeting on the Israeli Military Aggression against the Palestinian People

10 July 2014 by

Mr. President,

I come before the Security Council – upon the instructions of the Palestinian leadership under President Mahmoud Abbas, and with the support of the Arab Group, Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) and Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People – to urgently appeal to this Council to uphold its Charter duties for the maintenance of international peace and security.  We call on the Security Council to act immediately to protect civilian lives, which are being lost and destroyed with each passing minute of the Israeli military aggression being waged against the Palestinian people in Occupied Palestine, particularly in the Gaza Strip. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Statements

9 July 2014 – Continued Israeli aggression against Palestinian People

10 July 2014 by

Excellency,

Today I write this letter to urgently appeal and call for international protection for the Palestinian people from the wrath of Israel’s brutal and criminal military onslaught throughout the Occupied State of Palestine, including East Jerusalem.  With rampant impunity, Israel, the occupying Power, continues to intensify its assaults against the besieged Gaza Strip, killing, wounding and maiming Palestinian civilians.  Entire families, innocent children are being killed in their homes, in the streets and houses are being destroyed atop civilians, who have nowhere to be safe from the Israeli aggression.  The Palestinian death toll thus continues to rise, at least 50 Palestinians been killed by the Israeli occupying forces since Monday, 7 July, and more than 450 Palestinians, hundreds of them children, have been injured.

Today, 9 July, Israel, the occupying Power, launched another 160 airstrikes against civilian areas in Gaza, killing at least 21 Palestinians, including an elderly man, women, and 8 children, among them a one-year-old, 2-year-old, 14-year old and 16-year-old.  Of the reports coming in, it has been reported that an Israeli airstrike on the Al-Maghazi refugee camp killed a family of three Palestine refugees, two children and their mother, and reports indicate that two other children are missing as a result of the same attack and are probably trapped under the rubble.  In this regard, with refugees constituting the majority of the population in Gaza, where there are 8 refugee camps, UNRWA has declared a state of emergency due to the escalation of violence. In addition to the above, the following are just some of the names of the Palestinians killed today:

Abdel Nasser Abu Kwaik (age 60) and his son Khaled Abu Kwaik (age 29) were killed in an air strike on al-Nuseirat camp;

A woman, Nayfa Farajallah was killed in an airstrike on Al-Mughraqa south of Gaza City;

Rafiq Al-Kafarna (age 30) was killed when warplanes hit his motorcycle in Beit Lahia in north Gaza;

Abdel Hadi Al-Soufi (age 24) was killed in Al-Shoukeh neighborhood in southern Gaza Strip;

Hatem Mohammed Abu Salem (age 25) was killed in a strike on his home in Beit Hanoun;

A baby girl, Raneem Abdel Ghafour (age 1) was killed in an airstrike on her home in Al-Qarara north of Khan Younis;

A small boy, Mohammed Malakeh (age 2) along with his mother, Hanaa’ Malakeh, as well as Hatim Abu Salim were killed in airstrike on their home in Al-Zaitoun neighborhood southeast of Gaza City;

Saher Hamdan (age 40) and her son Ibrahim (age 14) were killed in a strike on their home in Beit Hanoun;

A mother and her two children from Al-Nawasreh family were killed in an Israeli raid of their home in Al-Mughazi camp;

An entire family – Hafiz Mohammed Hamad, (age 30), Ibrahim Mohammed Hamad, (age 26), Mahdi Mohammed Hamad, (age 46), Fawzia Khalil Hamad, (age 62), Mehdi Hamad, (age 16), and Suha Hamad (age 25) were all killed in an airstrike on their home in Beit Hanoun in the northern Gaza Strip;

Hani Saleh Hamad (in his sixties) and his son Ibrahim (in his twenties) were killed in an airstrike on their home;

An elderly woman, Salmiyya Al-Arja, and a child, Miryam Al-Arja, were killed in a strike on Rafah.

As more horrific reports pour in, the Palestinian leadership condemns in the strongest terms these war crimes and State terrorism being perpetrated by Israel, the occupying Power, against the defenseless and unprotected Palestinian civilian population under its occupation.   It should be recalled that Article 147 of the Fourth Geneva Convention defines grave breaches as, inter alia, the willful killing and inhumane treatment of protected persons, willfully causing great suffering or serious injury to body or health of protected persons, and extensive destruction of property unlawfully and wantonly.

In addition to attacks on civilians, Israel has also bombed vital civilian infrastructure in Gaza.  This includes the targeting of a sewage plant, which serves Al-Shati refugee camp, Tel Al-Hawa neighborhood, Sheikh Ajlin and western Gaza City, and which pumps 25 thousand cubic meters of waste water daily to the public treatment plant.  Israeli war planes also bombed the water line that provides for Al-Shati camp and serves more than 70,000 people. With water and wastewater infrastructure already under severe strain in the besieged Gaza Strip due to the severe Israeli restrictions on entry of construction materials necessary for repair and maintenance, the dire humanitarian conditions are worsening for the 1.7 million Palestinians living under Israel’s occupation and imprisoned as a result of its illegal blockade of Gaza.

Moreover, Israeli reprisals against the Palestinian people continue in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, where the occupying forces continue to use excessive force against civilians, causing death and injury to scores of Palestinians.  I am compelled to further draw the international community’s attention to the continuation of illegal actions by extremist and terrorist settlers that the occupying Power has illegally transferred to the Palestinian land, in violation of international law, including the Rome Statue of the International Criminal Court.  Israeli settlers continue their hate-filled terror rampages, persisting with attacks on Palestinian civilians and destruction of property.   We condemn all of these crimes and reiterate that Israel, the occupying Power, is responsible for the actions of its settlers in the Occupied State of Palestine, including East Jerusalem, and that there must be accountability for their crimes.

As the situation on the ground grows more dire as a result of Israel’s deliberate intent to spill more blood of innocent Palestinians, including children, we reiterate our urgent call on the Security Council of the United Nations to uphold its Charter duties and undertake the necessary action to bring an end to this Israeli aggression and to protect the Palestinian civilian population from this murderous and criminal rampage.  Israel, the occupying Power, must be held accountable for its deliberate violations of international law and international humanitarian law, including its practice of extrajudicial executions and measures of collective punishment, and must be reined in by the international community. In this connection, the international community, in particular the High Contracting Parties to the Fourth Geneva Convention, is also duty bound to ensure compliance by the occupying Power with of the Convention and cannot continue to sit idly by while Israel continues to with its crimes against the Palestinian people it has occupied for 47 years.

We thus call for an emergency meeting of the Security Council to immediately consider this crisis situation and to act collectively to bring a halt to Israel’s aggression and collective punishment of the Palestinian people throughout Occupied Palestine, particularly in the Gaza Strip, where at this moment the criminal, brutal Israeli onslaught is killing and maiming innocent Palestinian civilians.

This letter is in follow-up to our 504 letters regarding 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 9 July 2014 (A/ES-10/xxx-S/2014/xxx) 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 being committed against the Palestinian 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 text of 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.

Please accept, Excellency, the assurances of my highest consideration.

 

 

Filed Under: Identical Letters

8 July 2014 – the escalating Israeli aggressions against Gaza strip

10 July 2014 by

Excellency,

The situation on the ground in Occupied Palestine is deteriorating at an alarming rate due to the escalation of Israel’s latest campaign of military aggression, which began on 12 June 2014, against the Palestinian people.  In particular, the occupying Power has intensified its onslaught against the besieged Gaza Strip in grave breach of international law, including international humanitarian law and the relevant provisions regarding the protection of civilians in armed conflict and in grave breach of the prohibition of reprisals and collective punishment against the civilian population under occupation.

Palestinian civilian casualties are tragically mounting as a result of this brutal and criminal Israeli onslaught. Since my letter to you yesterday, the occupying Power has launched more than 150 military airstrikes deliberately targeting civilian areas in the Gaza Strip, killing at least 22 Palestinians and injuring more than 100 civilians, including women, children and elderly. The intensification of Israel’s aggression against the 1.7 Palestinians imprisoned in the Gaza Strip by Israel’s immoral blockade threatens to further destabilize the dangerous situation on the ground and fully ignite yet another round of deadly violence.

Today, 8 July 2014, Israeli jets and naval gun fire struck at several civilian areas in Gaza, bringing life to a standstill and deepening fear and panic among the already-traumatized Palestinian civilian population.  The destructive, lethal attacks by the occupying Power have been widespread, targeting many homes and civilian infrastructure in areas all over Gaza.  Among the dead in the past 24 hours were six children, two of them under five years of age, in addition to a 13-year-old child and a 14-year-old child. Also among those killed were: Mohammed Habib and his 19-year old son Mousa, who were killed after an airstrike hit a vehicle in Al-Shujaiyeh neighborhood in Gaza City; Fakri Saleh Ajjouri, who was killed after an airstrike at his motorcycle near Abraj Al-Sheikh Zayed in the northern Gaza Strip; Abduallah Kaware, Mohammad Ashour (age 13), Riyad Kaware, Mahmoud Judeh, Bakir Mahmoud Judeh (age 22), Ammar Mohammad Judeh (age 22), and Hussein Mohammad Kaware (age 14), were also all brutally murdered when Israeli rocket obliterated their home.

The threats of further escalation of this inhumane military aggression by the occupying Power against the Gaza Strip will only ensure the loss of more innocent civilian lives among the occupied and defenseless Palestinian population.  Statements by Israeli officials, including the Prime Minister of Israel, who stated that that the military operation against Gaza would be expanded – including a possible ground invasion into Gaza – reveals the true intention of the occupying Power to intensify and plummet the area into another deadly and destructive cycle of violence. In this regard, I must draw attention to the fact that Israeli occupying forces, including tanks, trucks, armored vehicles, bulldozers and buses, are amassing near the Gaza border and 40,000 so-called Israeli reservists have been mobilized. Clearly, the situation before us demands the attention of the international community, particularly the Security Council, which is duty-bound to act to maintain international peace and security and, in accordance with international humanitarian law, ensure protection for the Palestinian people under this savage military occupation.

We thus reiterate our urgent appeal to the Security Council of the United Nations to uphold its Charter duties and undertake the necessary action to bring an end to this Israeli aggression and to protect the Palestinian civilian population.  What is being perpetrated by Israel against the Palestinian people constitutes a grave breach of all norms of international law, including the Fourth Geneva Convention, which prohibits the willful killing of civilians and prohibits reprisals against the civilian population by the occupying Power.  War crimes are clearly being perpetrated by Israel against the Palestinian people and this must be unequivocally condemned and stopped.  A strong message must be sent to Israel, the occupying Power, to cease immediately its military campaign and abide by the law, in order to deescalate this dangerous situation, to promote calm, and, most importantly, to save innocent civilian lives.

This letter is in follow-up to our 503 letters regarding 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 July 2014 (A/ES-10/xxx-S/2014/xxx) 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 being committed against the Palestinian 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 text of 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.

Please accept, Excellency, the assurances of my highest consideration.

Filed Under: Identical Letters

7 July 2014 – continued Israeli aggressions against Palestinian people

10 July 2014 by

Excellency,

The escalation of deadly violence and terror being perpetrated by Israel, the occupying Power, against the Palestinian people compels me to write to you again today to urgently draw the attention of the international community to this dangerous situation.  In grave violation of the provisions of the Fourth Geneva Convention and relevant human rights provisions, for over three weeks, the occupying Power has been carrying out a series of military assaults, including air strikes, against civilians and civilian areas that have led to the killing of at least 25 Palestinians, including three children, and the wounding of at least 250 civilians, including women and children, many who remain in serious condition.  The extremely fragile situation in the Occupied State of Palestine, including East Jerusalem, is rapidly worsening and risks further destabilization as a result of this Israeli aggression and the incessant illegal actions being perpetrated against the Palestinian civilian population, including the unrelenting incitement by Israeli government officials and violence and terror by the occupying forces, settlers and other extremists.

The Palestinian death toll continues to rise as Israel, the occupying Power, continues to traumatize and terrorize the more than 1.7 million Palestinians living in the besieged Gaza Strip.  Since 12 June 2014, the Palestinian people in the besieged Gaza Strip have had to endure nearly-nightly military air raids.  Between yesterday and today, Israeli occupying forces killed nine Palestinians and injured many others, including two teenage girls and a child, in airstrikes launched across the Gaza Strip. The continuous climb in the number of casualties is reflective of Israel’s ongoing bloody onslaught against the Palestinian population in the Occupied Gaza Strip, in complete disregard and violation of all norms and rules of international humanitarian and human rights law.

Moreover, in our letter dated 2 July 2014, we referred to the intensifying acts of terror and racist hate crimes being perpetuated by illegal Israeli settlers as well as other Israeli extremists against Palestinian civilians, including children.  In this regard, we must reiterate our condemnation in the strongest terms of the kidnapping, torture and burning of Mohammed Abu Khdeir by terrorist Israeli settlers.  Since then, more information has become available regarding the cruel murder of young Mohammed, including postmortem findings of soot deposits in his lungs that prove that Mohammed was still alive when he was set on fire. The examination also found that burns covered 90 percent of his small body.   The Palestinian leadership holds the Israeli government responsible for this atrocious crime and the culture of impunity in which Israeli settler terrorists have so vilely and continuously assaulted Palestinian civilians and properties over the years. The Palestinian leadership calls for a speedy, independent, transparent and credible investigation into the murder of Mohammed and calls for the perpetrators of this terrorist crime to be held fully accountable and brought to justice.

In this connection, we must also bring to your attention the brutal beating by Israeli occupying forces of Palestinian-American Tariq Abu Khdeir (age 15), a cousin of Mohammed on 2 July 2014.  Tariq was outside his murdered cousin’s home in the neighborhood of Shufaat, in Occupied East Jerusalem, when he was taken by the occupying forces, the so-called “Israeli border police”.  Two videos of the horrific incident were posted online and show the Israeli forces repeatedly hitting Tariq who was cuffed and lying on the floor.  In the video, one of the so-called border police was shown kicking and punching Tariq in the face and the head while another sat on top of him.  Tariq was then dragged away completely unconscious.  A seriously injured Tariq was denied medical care for five hours and held without charge until yesterday and was released under house arrest.  This type of excessive, indiscriminate and brutal force has become the norm of the occupying Power, as hundreds of innocent Palestinians have met the same fate as Tariq, the only difference being that the vicious beating of Tariq was captured on camera for the entire world to witness the brutality of the occupying Power.  We call also for a transparent, credible investigation into the beating of Tariq and call for the perpetrators to be brought to justice.

At the same time, indiscriminate force continues to be unleashed by the occupying forces against Palestinian civilian protesters throughout the Occupied State of Palestine, including East Jerusalem, and has intensified in the period following the burial of Mohammed Abu Kdheir.  In this regard, more than 60 Palestinians were injured during protests in Occupied East Jerusalem, in addition to the 200 other Palestinians who were injured in other parts of the Occupied State of Palestine, including in and around the refugee camps in Al-Khalil.  In this regard, Israeli occupying forces routinely fire tear gas, stun grenades, rubber-coated metal bullets and live ammunition at the protestors, causing dozens of injuries, many critical.

Moreover, the escalation of attacks by extremist settlers, who have received encouragement from Israeli political figures and government officials, continue their campaign of terror, violence and provocation against the Palestinian civilian population.  Following the kidnapping and the burning alive of Mohammed, Israeli settlers continue to run rampant throughout Palestine with the tacit support of the Israeli government, whose armed forces guard these settler militias as they commit their crimes against defenseless Palestinian civilians, with over 130 settler attacks recorded in just the past 10 days.

In this connection, on 5 July 2014, Tariq Ziad Zuhdi Adeli, 22, was abducted by settlers near Nablus in the northern West Bank.  The terrorist settlers drove Tariq to a remote area and attacked him with a hatchet and left him bleeding and severely injured.  On that same day, Israeli settlers attacked the car of a Christian Palestinian cleric with rocks and iron bars near Ramallah, and more than 50 terrorist settlers also rampaged through Sheikh Jarrah in Occupied East Jerusalem assaulting Palestinians and vandalizing homes.

At the same time, since 12 June, Israeli occupying forces have conducted 800 violent military raids of Palestinians homes, villages, towns and cities across the West Bank, arresting and detaining hundreds of Palestinians. At least 850 Palestinians have been arrested since 12 June, including 60 prisoners released in the exchange deal of 2011 and 12 members of the Palestinian Parliament, bringing the number of imprisoned Palestinian parliamentarians to 22.  Around 170 of the Palestinians who were arrested during this period are now being held under administrative detention, the worst form of arbitrary detention, bringing the number of Palestinians being held under administrative detention to over 350 out of the nearly 6000 total Palestinians being held in Israeli jails and detention centers. We call for immediate release of all Palestinian prisoners and detainees.

As more innocent Palestinians, including children and women, continue to be killed and with no end in sight as Israel continues with its military attacks and measures of collective punishment and its terrorist settlers continue to commit atrocities against the Palestinian civilian population, the international community must do all in its power to compel Israel to immediately ceaseall its military aggression and scrupulously abide by all of its obligations as the occupying Power, under international law and relevant United Nations resolutions, including the provisions of the Fourth Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War of 12 August 1949.  In this regard, we continue to call upon the international community to ensure immediate protection for the Palestinian civilian population in accordance with the relevant provisions of international humanitarian law and in recognition of the fact that Israel, the occupying Power, has abdicated this responsibility.  In specific, we call on the Security Council to fulfill its duties in accordance with the United Nations Charter and take concrete measures to end the Israeli aggression against our people.  The international community cannot allow the occupying Power or its illegal settlers to continue to act with such flagrant impunity and disrespect for the law, which has resulted in widespread death, injury and suffering among the defenseless Palestinian civilian population and if not stopped will surely lead to much more senseless bloodshed.

This letter is in follow-up to our 502 letters regarding 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 3 July 2014 (A/ES-10/xxx-S/2014/xxx) 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 being committed against the Palestinian 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 text of 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.

Please accept, Excellency, the assurances of my highest consideration.

 

Filed Under: Identical Letters