Yesterday, 26 February 2001, the spokesman for the so-called Jewish settlement movement in the West Bank and Gaza Strip called for the assassination of President Yasser Arafat. Mr. Yehoshua Mor-Yosef said, "Arafat is an enemy. He never was a partner. After seven years of war and him sending his own people to kill, we need to assassinate him." The spokesman also stated that his views reflect those of the Settlers’ Council, an umbrella group for illegal settlements in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, which has established links with the Israeli Ministry of Defense and the office of the Prime Minister and is largely financed by the Israeli government. Similar provocative statements calling for President Arafat’s assassination were also made yesterday by Mr. Shlomo Filber, the secretary-general of the above-mentioned Council.

Israeli settlers, who have been illegally transferred by the occupying Power to the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including Jerusalem, in grave breach of the Fourth Geneva Convention of 1949 and in total violation of relevant Security Council resolutions, and their actions remain the exclusive responsibility of the occupying Power. Needless to say, these recent statements and their potentially serious repercussions take their illegal and immoral presence in the Occupied Territory to a new level of incitement and hostility, for which we hold the Israeli government fully responsible.

Further, in follow- up to my previous letters to you, dated from 29 September 2000 to 21 February 2001 (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; and A/ES-10/59-S/2001/156), I wish to draw your attention to the continuing Israeli military campaign being waged against the Palestinian civilian population in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including Jerusalem. Since my last letter to you on 21 February 2001, 3 more Palestinian civilians, including a 15 year-old boy, have been killed by the Israeli occupying forces. (The names of the 3 martyrs are contained in the annex to the present letter.) These killings bring the total number of Palestinians killed by the occupying forces to 361 martyrs.

In closing, Your Excellency, it should be emphasized that the occupying Power’s continued killing and injuring of Palestinian civilians in its brutal military campaign in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, as well as its obvious assassination policy and the escalating incitement and provocation mentioned above, are grave issues, to which we believe the international community must give serious attention. Such attention should aim at bringing an end to these Israeli violations and to providing protection for the Palestinian people.