17 November 2000 (A/ES-10/45, S/2000/1104)
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: (Beit Jala & Palestinian Martyrs)
In follow up of my previous letters, dated 29 September
through 15 November 2000 (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), I am compelled
to bring to your attention the fact that since my letter to you on 15
November, the Israeli occupying forces have killed 11 more Palestinian
civilians, including 8 children. This brings the total number of deaths in the
Occupied Palestinian Territory, including Jerusalem, since 29 September 2000
to 205 Palestinians. (The names of the martyrs since my last letter are
annexed.) The excessive and indiscriminate use of force by the Israeli
occupying forces, including the use of tanks, helicopter gunships, and other
heavy weaponry, has also caused numerous more injuries among the Palestinian
civilians, many of whom are in serious condition.
Further, on 15 November 2000, Israeli helicopter missile fire
in Beit Jala in the vicinity of the city of Bethlehem also killed a German
national, Mr. Harald Fischer. In addition to his death, several foreigners,
mostly correspondents, have been injured as a result of Israeli shelling and
shooting during the last few weeks.
Such lethal incidents have occurred daily in the Occupied
Palestinian Territory, including Jerusalem, as a result of the Israeli
occupying forces’ brutality and excessive use of force. For example,
yesterday, a Palestinian man, age 55, was stopped at an Israeli checkpoint,
where he got into a shouting exchange with Israeli soldiers and was then shot
to death by the soldiers. This represents another specific instance of what
human rights organizations have been referring to as the cold-blooded killing
of Palestinian civilians.
In conjunction with this bloody Israeli military campaign
against Palestinian civilians and the ongoing siege of the Occupied
Palestinian Territory, the Israeli government has just taken the decision to
withhold money belonging to the Palestinian Authority. In these circumstances
of socioeconomic hardship for the Palestinian people, such measures only
exacerbate economic problems and worsen living conditions. This Israeli
decision to withhold Palestinian money is tantamount to theft or at best is an
illegal and unjustified tool of pressuring and collectively punishing the
entire population.
The international community cannot allow this Israeli
campaign of killing, terror and collective punishment against the Palestinian
people to continue. It must insist on the full implementation of Security
Council resolution 1322 (2000) and resolution ES-10/7 of 20 October 2000 of
the tenth emergency special session of the General Assembly. We further
reiterate once again our call to the Security Council for the urgent
establishment of a United Nations Protection Force to be dispatched in the
Occupied Palestinian Territory, including Jerusalem, for the purpose of
providing much-needed protection for the Palestinian civilian population.
Names of Martyrs killed by Israeli security forces in the
Occupied Palestinian Territory including Jerusalem
(Wednesday, 15 November to Thursday, 16 November
2000)
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Wednesday, 15 November 2000
- Ahmed Samir Bassil (15 years old)
- Mohammed Nasser Mohammed Al-Sharafi (17 years old)
- Samer Khairy Ahmed Khidr
- Fathi Odeh Jumah Salem (18 years old)
- Ahmed Saeed Shaban
- Manee Jadou Abu Al-Kabash (16 years old)
- Abdel Hafez Mohammed Gharouf (18 years old)
- Ibrahim Abdel Raouf Jaidi (17 years old)
Thursday, 16 November 2000
- Jihad Abu Shahmah (9 years old)
- Samer Al-Khadour (18 years old)
- Yussef Suleiman Ali Awad