5 April 2001 (A/ES-10/72-S/2001/332)
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: (Killings &Settlements)
Today, 5 April 2001, Israel, the occupying Power, committed
yet another extrajudicial killing of a Palestinian civilian, assassinating a
man while he stood in a public telephone booth in the town of Jenin.
Apparently, the telephone booth was booby-trapped, a method that has been used
before by the Israeli occupying forces in committing such crimes against
Palestinians.
In another condemnable and extremely dangerous development,
soldiers of the Israeli occupying forces shot at Palestinian high security
officials, who were returning from a Palestinian-Israeli meeting, immediately
after the convoy in which those officials were traveling passed the Israeli
checkpoint into Gaza. Two of the cars were heavily hit by gunfire and three
bodyguards were injured. This attack raises very serious questions regarding
the conduct of some officers of the Israeli occupying forces and the
relationship between the military and political levels in Israel.
On another front, the Israeli government took additional
steps concerning illegal settlement activities in the Occupied Palestinian
Territory, including Jerusalem. These steps relate to both the building of a
new settlement and the expansion of existing settlements, including the one at
Jabal Abu Ghneim.
Further, today, Israeli occupying forces killed a 15 year-old
boy by shooting him in the chest near the "Netzarim" settlement in the middle
of the Gaza Strip. This killing raises the total number of Palestinians killed
by the Israeli occupying forces, since 28 September 2000, to 401 martyrs. In
reference to my previous letters to you on this grave matter
(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/2000/131; A/ES-10/59-S/2001/156; A/ES-10/60-S/2000/175;
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; and A/ES-10/71-S/2001/314), I am
enclosing in the annex to this letter the names of the additional two martyrs
since my last letter to you on 2 April 2001.
In this regard, I also regret to inform you that the number
of injuries sustained by Palestinian civilians as a result of the excessive
use of lethal force by the Israeli occupying army also continues to rise. On 3
April 2001, the Israeli occupying forces once again used Israeli helicopter
gunships to assault Palestinian areas, firing missiles at four different
locations throughout the Gaza Strip. At least 50 people were injured as a
result of this shelling, in addition to the severe damage caused to
infrastructure and the widespread fear and panic caused among the civilian
populations in those areas.
We call upon the international community and the United
Nations Security Council in specific to undertake measures to bring an end to
Israel’s bloody military campaign against the Palestinian people. In this
regard, we once again stress the urgency of providing protection to the
Palestinian civilians living under the oppressive and brutal Israeli
occupation.
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Names of Martyrs killed by Israeli occupying forces
in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including Jerusalem
(Thursday, 5 April 2001)
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Thursday, 5 April 2001
- Ahmed Mohammed Al-Attar (15 years old)
- Eyad Mohammed Hardan