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.