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.

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.

Excellency,

I regret to inform you that since our letter of yesterday, 2 July 2014, Israel, the occupying Power, has continued with its campaign of military aggression against the Palestinian people, assaulting the Gaza Strip with more air strikes, causing more death and injury to Palestinian civilians, and persisting with excessive use of lethal force against Palestinians, including children, in large-scale military raids and attacks against civilian protesters throughout the West Bank, including in East Jerusalem. Tensions continue to rise dramatically as a result of the aggressions being perpetrated by the occupying forces and settlers against the Palestinian civilian population as well as the constant incitement to violence and terror against Palestinians by Israeli government officials, settlers and other extremists.

Yesterday, 2 July, Israeli occupying forces killed Yousef Ibrahim Ahmed Ibn Gharra, 20, who was returning to his home in the Jenin refugee camp after buying foodstuffs for his family. The killing of Yousef by three bullets to the heart, left shoulder and forearm by a so-called Israeli undercover unit, brings the total number of Palestinians killed since 12 June 2014 to 12 people, including a small child.

The extremely fragile situation in the Occupied State of Palestine, including East Jerusalem, is worsening and risks further destabilization due to this continuing Israeli aggression against the Palestinian people.  We renew our call on the international community, particularly the Security Council, to uphold its obligations under the Charter and under international law, including international humanitarian law as it pertains to the rights and protection of civilians in armed conflict, including foreign occupation.  We reiterate that the Palestinian civilian population under Israel’s occupation must be guaranteed protection and cannot remain the exception to the responsibility to protect civilians from atrocities and flagrant breaches of the law.

In addition, I write today to convey the Palestinian leadership’s grave concern and total condemnation of Israeli incitement to violence and terror against the Palestinian people.  Such reckless behavior, deliberately aimed at terrorizing and causing harm to our people, is seriously heightening tensions and risks the further unraveling of the already fragile situation.

In this regard, I must draw attention to the Israeli social media campaigns calling for the murder of Palestinians.  One of these social media campaigns was posted on the website of Facebook which was entitled, “The People of Israel demand Vengeance” which gained over 36,000 “likes” in just under two days before being removed.  The page had numerous photos of Israeli soldiers, among them those currently serving in the occupying forces in Palestine, who posted pictures of themselves with their weapons demanding revenge with comments that include, but are not limited to, “blood-blood we want revenge”, “let us mow them down”, “we want blood”, and “hating Arabs is not racism, it’s values!”.  It should be noted that, just days prior to this latest racist online campaign, the Israeli prime minister himself was quoted as reciting a verse from an Israel poem, stating: “such vengeance for blood of babe and maiden hath yet to be wrought by Satan…”, a verse interpreted today as promoting a fierce revenge for murder.

It should be placed on record that this is not the first time Israelis have used social media outlets to spew repugnant racist remarks and incite violence and terror against the occupied Palestinian population.    In April, a Facebook page created to support an Israeli soldier who aimed his gun at Palestinian teenagers garnered 60,000 “likes”. Such incitement on social media highlights the dangerous, violent and racist sentiment harbored by many Israelis towards Palestinians, a sentiment that is promoted by some of Israel’s governmental officials, who actively foster a toxic atmosphere by condoning and encouraging violence against Palestinians and repeatedly making declarations of incitement.  It is also fostered by the fact that Israeli governmental officials continue to fail to bring to justice the perpetrators of violence and hate crimes against Palestinians.

The continuation of such racist, hate-filled action will only worsen the situation on the ground in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, further stoking anger and rage and deepening mistrust.  We call on the international community to strongly condemn all forms of Israeli incitement as well as the hate crimes that continue to be perpetrated against Palestinian civilians, and compel Israel to take swift action against the perpetrators and bring them to justice. We reiterate that the current dangerous situation requires urgent attention and serious action by the international community, including the Security Council, in accordance with its responsibility for the maintenance of peace and security, before it deteriorates further with untold consequences.

This letter is in follow-up to our 501 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 2 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 made available to the members of the Security Council for their immediate and valuable consideration.

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

Excellency,

I must once again call your urgent attention to the dangerous escalation and rising tensions on the ground in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, due to the ongoing Israeli aggression and inhumane acts against the Palestinian civilian population.

In grave breach of international law, including its obligations as an occupying Power in accordance with the Fourth Geneva Convention, Israel continues to deliberately launch military raids and attacks, including air strikes, against Palestinian civilian areas, causing loss of life, injury and destruction of civilian homes and properties, and continues to recklessly incite further violence against the Palestinian civilians, resulting in intensifying acts of terror and racist hate crimes by illegal Israeli settlers as well as other Israeli extremists against Palestinian civilians, including children.  The international community, especially the Security Council, cannot remain silent as Israel, and its terrorist settlers, continue with their aggression, wreaking death, destruction and terror on the Palestinian people under its occupation.

In this regard, I regret to inform you that, yesterday, 1 July 2014, at approximately 3:45 am (Palestine time) in the town of Beit Hanina in occupied East Jerusalem, a 16-year-old boy, Mohammed Hussein Abu Khdeir, was sitting on a wall outside the mosque waiting for dawn prayers that start the daily fast during the holy month of Ramadan, was abducted and later brutally murdered by Israeli extremists.  According to witnesses and surveillance cameras, two Israeli settlers pulled up in gray car and violently forced young Mohammed into their car.  A couple of hours later, the body of Mohammed was found in a forested area of the city, his small body burnt and showing signs of severe violence perpetrated against him.

The Palestinian Government condemns in the strongest terms the kidnapping, torture and burning of Mohammed Abu Khdeir by terrorist Israeli settlers.  We hold 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. We call on the international community, in particular the Security Council, to clearly and unequivocally condemn the brutal kidnapping and killing of Mohammed.

Moreover, the Security Council must call on Israel, the occupying Power, to act immediately and tangibly to cease all violations against the Palestinian people, including all acts of collective punishment and reprisals, including incitement of reprisals, which are prohibited by the Fourth Geneva Convention. The Security Council has a responsibility to contribute to the de-escalation of this grave situation, including by demonstrating its commitment to universal human rights by publicly condemning this latest crime by Israeli terrorist settlers, calling for respect of international law and calling for restraint. Israel, the occupying Power, which bears full responsibility for placing its civilians on Occupied Palestinian Territory, in violation of the Fourth Geneva Convention and the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, must also unequivocally condemn this heinous act and hold the perpetrators accountable and bring them to justice.

The killing of Mohammed is not the only attempt by Israeli terrorist settlers to cause death and injury to the unprotected Palestinian civilian population.  In this regard, just twenty-four hours before Mohammed’s brutal killing, terrorist settlers kidnapped and assaulted 8 year-old Musa Zalom in Jerusalem, who was saved by Palestinian civilians in the neighborhood. Also, 9-year-old Sanabel Al-Tous remains in critical condition after an Israeli settler ran her over with his car and threw her little body on the side of the road, leaving her there to die.

Such horrific acts by terrorist Israeli settlers come amidst an outburst of virulent anti-Arab racism in Israel, fueled by the direct incitement and declarations by Israeli government officials against the Palestinian people.  In this connection, I must draw your attention to the fact that hundreds of Israelis rampaged through the streets of Jerusalem yesterday, violently assaulting at least five Palestinians, while chanting hateful and violent slogans such as “death to Arabs.”  At least two other Palestinians were physically assaulted by Israelis in hate crime incidents in other parts of Jerusalem in this escalating environment of violence.

Moreover, Israeli occupying forces have been relentlessly carrying out vicious acts of military aggression against the Palestinian population, committing wide scale violations of international law, including humanitarian and human rights law, including blatant measures of collective punishment.  Yesterday, 1 July 2014, in the early morning hours, Israeli war planes bombed more than 35 so-called “targets” in the besieged Gaza Strip, where more than 1.7 million Palestinians have been imprisoned for eight years under Israel’s illegal, immoral blockade.  This latest barrage of airstrikes caused destruction to civilian property and infrastructure and intensified fear and panic among the Palestinian civilian population, where more than 50 percent are children under 18 years of age.

The occupying forces also continued apace with the military aggression against the Palestinian civilians in the occupied West Bank.  Israeli occupying forces demolished the family homes belonging to the two Palestinians who Israel has accused of allegedly carrying out the kidnapping and killing of three Israeli settlers.  All such measures taken by the Israeli occupying forces in the Occupied State of Palestine are clearly a part of the collective punishment policy and reprisals against Palestinian civilians in violation of Article 33 of the Fourth Geneva Convention, which stipulates that: “No protected person may be punished for an offence he or she has not personally committed.”

The grave situation before us requires urgent attention and serious action by the international community before the situation on the ground further destabilizes and unravels.  The Security Council must uphold its responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security.  It must reaffirm its rejection of all Israel’s criminal acts and illegal, violent and provocative actions taken against the Palestinian people in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem.  Moreover, it must be recalled that the Palestinian people who are so gravely suffering under Israel’s more than 47-year military occupation are entitled to protection under international humanitarian law, particularly the Fourth Geneva Convention. We thus reiterate that the international community, including the Security Council, cannot remain silent or continue only expressing regret or disappointment with Israel’s violations. It is the responsibility of the international community to put an end to these crimes by the occupying Power and this begins with holding Israel accountable for all of its actions in accordance with international law and the relevant United Nations resolutions. The Palestinian people cannot remain the exception to this responsibility to protect civilians from such atrocities and flagrant breaches of the law.

This letter is in follow-up to our 500 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 30 June 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.

Excellency,

The situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, continues to deteriorate and tensions continue to rise as a result of provocations and illegal actions by Israel, the occupying Power, against the Palestinian people.  Of grave concern in particular at this time is the precarious condition of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails and detention centers, and more specifically Palestinian prisoners who have been on prolonged hunger strike in an expression of collective nonviolent protest against the abusive treatment and deplorable conditions they are being subjected to in Israel’s jails and detention centers and in peaceful demand of their human rights. [Read more…]