Letter sent by Dr. Nasser Al-Kidwa, Ambassador and Permanent
Observer of Palestine to the U.N., to the Secretary-General of the United
Nations, the President of the Security Council, and the President of the
General Assembly: (Israeli Defiance of Security Council Resolution
1402)
The crisis in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including
Jerusalem, worsens each day as Israel, the occupying Power, presses on with
its military campaign, including war crimes and State terrorism, against the
besieged Palestinian people and Palestinian Authority. This brutal and bloody
military campaign is being carried out, and indeed intensified, despite pleas
from all over the international community for the government of Israel to
immediately cease its assaults and to adhere to international humanitarian law
and the relevant resolutions of the United Nations Security Council.
Such calls upon Israel were reiterated in the strongest of
terms during the public debate of the Security Council, which convened
yesterday to consider the continuing deterioration of the situation. The
Council was addressed by 58 speakers, the majority of whom implored the
Council to take action for the immediate enforcement of resolution 1402 (2002)
and specifically for the withdrawal of Israel from reoccupied Palestinian
cities. We urge the Security Council to respond positively to the unanimous
position conveyed by the membership in this regard by taking action on the
draft resolution before it, submitted by the Syrian Arab Republic and Tunisia
and contained in document S/2002/347, which demands the immediate
implementation of resolution 1402 (2002). Urgent action by the Security
Council is required to stem the grave and continuing decline of the situation
in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including Jerusalem, in the face of the
ongoing Israeli onslaught against the Palestinian people and their
leadership.
In fact, the scope of the Israeli military campaign has
widened in recent days, causing even greater death and destruction, in
complete defiance of the international community’s calls in resolution 1402
(2002). The Israeli occupying forces have entered and seized even more
Palestinian towns and cities, including Jenin and Salfit and, today, the city
of Nablus, in addition to the continuing military siege on the cities of
Ramallah, Bethlehem, Qalqilya and Tulkarem. The siege and escalating assaults
on these cities by the occupying forces has also included the surrounding
refugee camps, where the situation is even more critical. Moreover, all of the
cities reoccupied by Israel have been declared closed military zones, and the
foreign media have been prevented from documenting the situation as the
occupying forces seek to commit even more human rights violations and
atrocities against the Palestinian people out of the view of the international
community.
In Ramallah, President Yasser Arafat and the Palestinian
Authority remain under siege. In Bethlehem, Israeli tanks remain positioned
just meters away from the Church of the Nativity, gravely endangering this
holy site. In Nablus, more than 100 Israeli tanks stormed the city,
reoccupying positions and causing vast destruction, in addition to killing
several Palestinians. The Israeli occupying forces also continued to shell the
nearby city of Jenin, where among those killed by the occupying forces was a
Red Crescent medical worker who was trying to retrieve the bodies of two other
Palestinians who had been killed.
As mentioned in previous letters, the targeting of emergency
medical vehicles and personnel continues to be a policy practiced by the
Israeli occupying forces in complete violation of international humanitarian
law. The inhumane practice of preventing retrieval of those wounded or killed
by Israeli fire continues as well. United Nations staff, particularly that of
the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA),
working in the area have even been threatened and repeatedly targeted by the
Israeli forces, seriously endangering the safety of U.N. personnel and
obstructing their work.
Round-ups of Palestinian males and house-to-house searches
also continue to be carried out by the Israeli occupying forces, who have
abducted and detained more than 1,000 Palestinians since this most recent
onslaught began. Further, the occupying forces continue to carry out
widespread destruction of homes, government buildings and institutions, cars,
trees and vital infrastructure, including running water, electricity and
sewage lines. Moreover, the vicious siege and the curfews imposed by the
occupying forces have prevented civilians from procuring essential foodstuffs
and other daily necessities and have caused a serious shortage in basic food
items, including for infants, and medicines. The suffering of the Palestinian
people intensifies with each day that this Israeli siege and military campaign
continues to terrorize them and cause rampant death and destruction among
them.
The extent of Mr. Sharon’s madness is becoming more clearly
evident each day as he continues to lead Israel in pursuit of this bloody
military campaign, rife with human rights violations, war crimes and State
terrorism against the Palestinian people under occupation. Mr. Sharon’s
decisions to continue this campaign reflect his unimaginable defiance of the
international community’s repeated calls for an immediate end to the incessant
Israeli attacks against the Palestinian people and reveal also the extreme
arrogance and intransigence of Mr. Sharon and the Israeli government as a
whole. Indeed, this madness was starkly reflected in recent comments made by
the Israeli army chief, General Shaul Mofaz, who today publicly called for the
"expulsion" of President Yasser Arafat. This call adds to Mr. Mofaz’s bleak
record, which should make him among the first Israeli officials to be tried
for the war crimes being committed by the Israeli occupying forces against the
Palestinian people.
In follow-up to my previous 112 letters to you regarding the
crisis situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including Jerusalem,
dated from 29 September 2000 to 2 April 2002 (A/55/432-S/2000/921;
A/55/437-S/2000/930; A/55/450-S/2000/957; A/55/466-S/2000/971;
A/55/474-S/2000/984; A/55/490-S/2000/993; A/ES-10/39-S/2000/1015;
A/ES-10/40-S/2000/1025; A/ES-10/42-S/2000/1068; A/ES-10/43-S/2000/1078;
A/ES-10/44-S/2000/1093; A/ES-10/45-S/2000/1104; A/ES-10/46- S/2000/1107;
A/ES-10/47-S/2000/1116; A/ES-10/48-S/2000/1129; A/ES-10/49-S/2000/1154;
A/ES-10/50-S/2000/1173; A/ES-10/51- S/2000/1185; A/ES-10/52-S/2000/1206;
A/ES-10/53-S/2000/1247; A/ES-10/54-S/2001/7; A/ES-10/55-S/2001/33;
A/ES-10/56-S/2001/50; A/ES-10/57-S/2001/101; A/ES-10/58-S/2001/131;
A/ES-10/59-S/2001/156; A/ES-10/60-S/2001/175; A/ES-10/61- S/2001/189;
A/ES-10/64-S/2001/209; A/ES-10/65-S/2001/226; A/ES-10/66-S/2001/239;
A/ES-10/67-S/2001/255; A/ES- 10/68-S/2001/284; A/ES-10/69-S/2001/295;
A/ES-10/70-S/2001/304; A/ES-10/71-S/2001/314; A/ES-10/72-S/2001/332;
A/ES-10/75-S/2001/352; A/ES-10/76-S/2001/372; A/ES-10/79-S/2001/418;
A/ES-10/80-S/2001/432; A/ES-10/81-S/2001/447; A/ES-10/82-S/2001/463;
A/ES-10/83-S/2001/471; A/ES-10/84-S/2001/479; A/ES-10/85-S/2001/486;
A/ES-10/86-S/2001/496; A/ES-10/87-S/2001/504; A/ES-10/88-S/2001/508;
A/ES-10/89-S/2001/544; A/ES-10/90-S/2001/586; A/ES-10/91-S/2001/605;
A/ES-10/92-S/2001/629; A/ES-10/93-S/2001/657; A/ES-10/94-S/2001/669;
A/ES-10/95-S/2001/686; A/ES-10/96-S/2001/697; A/ES-10/97-S/2001/708;
A/ES-10/98-S/2001/717; A/ES-10/99S/2001/742; A/ES-10/100-S/2001/754;
A/ES10/101-S/2001/783; A/ES-10/102-S/2001/785; A/ES-10/103-S/2001/798;
A/ES10/104-S/2001/812; A/ES-10/105-S/2001/814; A/ES-10/107-S/2001/821;
A/ES-10/108-S/2001/826; A/ES-10/111-S/2001/880; A/ES-10/112-S/2001/918;
A/ES-10/114-S/2001/928; A/ES-10/115-S/2001/932; A/ES-10/116-S/2001/941;
A/ES-10/117-S/2001/971 A/ES-10/118-S/2001/989; A/ES-10/119-S/2001/991;
A/ES-10/121-S/2001/1007, A/ES-10/122-S/2001/1024; A/ES-10/123-S/2001/1036;
A/ES-10/124-S/2001/1084; A/ES-10/125-S/2001/1092; A/ES-10/126-S/2001/1118;
A/ES-10/128-S/2001/1149; A/ES-10/129-S/2001/1166; A/ES-10/133-S/2000/1239;
A/ES-10/134-S/2001/126; A/ES-10/136-S/2002/18; A/ES-10/137-S/2002/39;
A/ES-10/138-S/2002/48; A/ES-10/139-S/2002/58; A/ES-10/140-S/2002/89;
A/ES-10/141-S/2002/95; A/ES-10/142-S/2002/102; A/ES-10/143-S/2002/121;
A/ES-10/144-S/2002/142; A/ES-10/145-S/2002/146; A/ES-10/146-S/2002/165;
A/ES-10/147-S/2002/175; A/ES-10/148-S/2002/182; A/ES-10/149-S/2002/186;
A/ES-10/150-S/2002/214; A/ES-10/151-S/2002/223; A/ES-10/152-S/2002/232;
A/ES-10/154-S/2002/242; A/ES-10/155-S/2002/248; A/ES-10/156-S/2002/245;
A/ES-10/157-S/2002/253; A/ES-10/158-S/2002/258; A/ES-10/159-S/2002/281;
A/ES-10/160-S/2002/307; A/ES-10/161-S/2002/319; A/ES-10/163-S/2002/330 and
A/ES-10/163-S/2002/340), I deeply regret to inform you that, since my last
letter, at least 31 Palestinians have been killed by the Israeli occupying
forces, raising the total number of Palestinian martyrs to 1,228 people. This
figure does not include today’s fatalities. Once again, due to the extremely
difficult circumstances in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, we have been
unable to compile a complete and accurate list of all of the Palestinian
martyrs that have been killed by the Israeli occupying forces. However, the
annex to the present letter contains the names of the martyrs that have thus
far been identified. The names of the other Palestinians that have been killed
by the occupying forces will be conveyed once they are
identified.
Names of Martyrs killed by Israeli occupying
forces in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including
Jerusalem* (Tuesday, 2 April 2002 to Wednesday, 3 April 2002)
*Total number of Palestinian martyrs killed by Israeli
occupying forces since 28 September 2000 = 1,228