Israel, the occupying Power, continues with its bloody military campaign against the Palestinian people under occupation. The Israeli government appears to be taking advantage of the shift of attention of the entire world as a result of the heinous acts of terrorism, which took place in the United States on 11 September 2001. Since 11 September 2001, Israeli occupying forces have brutally killed 25 Palestinians. Along with the recent killings of Palestinian civilians, Israeli tanks have entered several Palestinian cities, including the city of Jenin, destroying several buildings and causing widespread fear and panic to spread among the Palestinian population living in the area.

The Israeli side also declared its intention to establish the so-called buffer zones along the border between Israel and the occupied territory. Such a step, if implemented, would only add to the misery of the Palestinian people and create an immense negative impact for the entire situation. While taking these actions, the government of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon cancelled a high-level meeting between the two sides and began setting new conditions for such meetings to take place. The Israeli government also made many condemnable and provocative statements directed at the Palestinian leadership, which only appear to aim at undermining the united international front sought to confront international terrorism.

I am writing this letter in follow-up to our previous 67 letters addressed to you regarding this grave and ongoing situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including Jerusalem, dated from 29 September 2000 to 28 August 2001 (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-10/71-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-10/99-S/2001/742; A/ES-10/100-S/2001/754; A/ES10/101S/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 and A/ES-10/108-S/2001/826.) I regret to inform you that since my last letter to you, Israeli occupying forces have killed 48 more Palestinians, including the number of martyrs mentioned above. (The names of the martyrs are contained in the annex to the present letter.) These deaths raise the total number of Palestinian martyrs killed by the Israeli occupying forces since 28 September 2000 to 633 people. Moreover, the total number of Palestinian civilians injured, many severely and permanently, also continue to rise each day.