18 April 2002 (A/ES-10/167-S/2002/433)
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: (Jenin Aftermath)
The intense military assaults being waged by the Israeli
occupying forces against the Palestinian people and the Palestinian Authority
continues, now in its 18th day, in spite of Security Council
resolutions 1402 (2002) and 1403 (2002). Indeed, Israel, the occupying Power,
continues launching attacks, wreaking widespread death and destruction, in
spite of innumerable appeals and demands from all corners of the international
community for an immediate halt to the Israeli assaults and an immediate
Israeli withdrawal from Palestinian cities, towns and refugee camps.
As the days pass, the shocking aftermath of the ongoing
Israeli military assaults, including in particular the appalling humanitarian
situation, is becoming increasingly known to the whole world. The Israeli
occupying forces have committed grave breaches of the Fourth Geneva Convention
relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War with their
"wilfull killing" and "extensive destruction and appropriation of property,
not justified by military necessity and carried out unlawfully and wantonly".
The war crimes being committed by Israel are part of its design to destroy not
only the Palestinian Authority but also the Palestinian infrastructure as a
means of devastating both the present and the future life of the Palestinian
people.
In the Jenin refugee camp, Israeli atrocities have gone even
further, with credible reports about a massacre committed against the
residents of the camp, with women and children among the dead. Israeli
occupying forces are still preventing the International Committee for the Red
Cross and other humanitarian organizations from entering the camp, compounding
the untold suffering of the wounded and those who remain alive in the camp.
The Jenin camp itself has been obliterated by the Israeli occupying forces.
Many homes and other buildings have been completely destroyed. The occupying
forces fired missiles from helicopter gunships and even used bulldozers to
demolish homes, in several instances bulldozing homes while civilians were
still inside. Some have been buried alive and their bodies continue to be
discovered, and several other civilians have been rescued from the rubble
after surviving for days. Moreover, so many of the Palestinians killed in the
Jenin camp remain in the streets decaying as the occupying forces continue to
prevent the retrieval of the dead. At the same time, there are widespread
reports that the Israeli forces themselves have been removing and burying some
bodies.
In the rest of the Occupied Palestinian Territory, the
destruction caused by the assaults of the Israeli occupying forces has been
vast. Rubble and debris from homes, buildings and infrastructure destroyed by
the occupying forces abound, inter alia, in the cities of Ramallah,
Bethlehem, Tulkarem, Qalqilya, Jenin and Nablus and the nearby towns and
refugee camps. The old city of Nablus and Bethlehem and the city of Jenin have
suffered the most excessive and wanton destruction. As the Israeli siege and
reoccupation continues, the streets remain deserted, with Palestinian
socio-economic life in virtual ruins and brought to a halt as a result of the
Israeli military campaign. Moreover, the round-ups and abductions of scores of
Palestinians continue, and the occupying Power continues to illegally detain
more than 5,000 Palestinians.
Israeli tanks also continue to impose a siege on the Church
of the Nativity in Bethlehem, in complete violation of the sanctity of this
holy site, the birthplace of Jesus Christ. Further, Israel continues to
threaten the deportation, another war crime, of those who sought refuge in the
sanctuary of the Church more than a week ago. Clearly, as this military siege
continues, the humanitarian situation inside the Church continues to rapidly
deteriorate.
At the same time, the Israeli siege of the office of the
President of the Palestinian Authority and the elected leader of the
Palestinian people, Yasser Arafat, continues, including the position of troops
and snipers inside the compound itself. Moreover, water and electricity to the
compound have been cut off and communication lines have been jammed, creating
a very serious and debilitating situation inside.
It is deeply regrettable that the outcry from humanitarian
organizations in the area and beyond, including the United Nations Relief and
Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), has received no adequate response
by the international community, including the Security Council. The United
Nations Secretary-General himself has repeatedly warned of the rapid decline
of the situation on the ground and has called for quick action, including the
formation and dispatch of an international force in the Occupied Palestinian
Territory. We once again appeal to the international community to take urgent
actions to bring an end to the human rights violations, war crimes and State
terrorism being perpetrated by Israel, the occupying Power, against the
Palestinian people. It is time for the Security Council to bear its
responsibilities to prevent the further deterioration of this already tragic
situation and to take the necessary measures to ensure the immediate
implementation of its resolutions 1402 (2002) and 1403 (2002).
In follow-up to my previous 116 letters to you regarding the
crisis in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including Jerusalem, dated from
29 September 2000 to 10 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-10/162-S/2002/330; A/ES-10/163-S/2002/340;
A/ES-10/164-S/2002/353; A/ES-10/165-S/2002/361 and A/ES-10/166-S/2002/370), it
is my profound regret to inform you that, since my last letter to you, it has
been revealed that at least 42 Palestinians have been killed by the Israeli
occupying forces. This raises the total number of Palestinians killed by the
occupying forces to 1,382 martyrs.
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 killed by the Israeli
occupying forces, particularly those that have been killed in the attack on
the Jenin refugee camp. The annex to the present letter contains the names of
the martyrs that have thus far been identified, and the names of the other
Palestinians that have been killed will be conveyed once they are
identified.
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Names of Martyrs killed by Israeli occupying forces
in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including Jerusalem*
(Thursday, 11 April 2002 to Monday, 15 April 2002)
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Thursday, 11 April 2002
- Mohammed Nafa’a Hardan
- Amal Hardan
- Jameela Hardan (7 months pregnant)
- Youssef Salman Mihana
- Ahed Rasmi Ali Hamad (5 years old)
- Rifaat Khalil Abdelrahman Sidqi Al-Jabaa
- Tawfiq Salman Al-Naouq
- Jamal Issa Turkman
- Ammar Hamdan Salem Othman
- Burhan Abdellatif Abu Odeh
- Abdelmuti Silmi Abu Sunineh
- Mohammed Khalil Khalaf
Friday, 12 April 2002
- Hatim Talal Abu Al-Qumbuz
- Mohammed Mahmoud Al-Askafi
- Attallah Mikhail Al-Hayek
- Samir Al-Shaabi
- Nazmi Hamdan Yassin
- Bassimah Musa Al-Qaysieh
- Imad Hamdan Salem Othman
- Radi Ahmed Deeb Marie
- Inaz Housni Saleh Milhim
- Faris Inad Fares Al-Zibin (12 years old)
- Iskandar Khaled Saadeh
Saturday, 13 April 2002
- Riyad Abdelkarim Diad Saadeh
- Omar Mohammed Al-Shaabi (The following 6 people are his family. Father
was killed on Friday.)
- Fatma Omar Mohammed Al-Shaabi
- Abeer Omar Mohammed Al-Shaabi
- Nabeela Abdelraouf Al-Shaabi
- Abdallah Samir Al-Shaabi (10 years old)
- Azzam Samir Al-Shaabi (7 years old)
- Anas Samir Al-Shaabi (4 years old)
- Mohammed Aziz Abdelraouf
Sunday, 14 April 2002
- Ribhi Ramez Selim Haddad
- Hassan Abdallah Nisman
- Son of Ali Al-Shaar (Newborn baby – 1 day old)
- Salem Ahmed Salem Abu-Khouseh
- Mohammed Taher Mohammed Al-Sheikh Al-Shawaneh
Monday, 15 April 2002
- Ala’a Ahmed Al-Aaraj
- Mohammed Ahmed Abu-Muhareb
- Rana Saedi Al-Karjah
- Rasmi Mustafa Abdeljalil Kadadheh
- Khaled Abdelraouf Hamad
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*Total number of Palestinian martyrs killed by Israeli
occupying forces since 28 September 2000 = 1,382