General Assembly Tenth emergency special session Agenda item 5 Illegal Israeli actions in Occupied East Jerusalem and the rest of the Occupied Palestinian Territory Security Council Sixty-second year Identical letters dated 3 July 2007 from the Permanent Observer of Palestine to the United Nations addressed to the Secretary-General and the President of the Security Council Over the last few days, Israel, the occupying Power, has been intensifying its military campaign against the Palestinian people in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, further proving its unwillingness to take steps towards peace and its determination to intensify the conflict. Israeli occupying forces have continued their military attacks and illegal policy of extrajudicial executions against Palestinian civilians in the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip. On Saturday, 30 June 2007, Israeli occupying forces killed 7 Palestinians, including a man and his son, and wounded 10 others, including 2 children, in two air strikes against Khan Yunis town in the southern Gaza Strip and Al-Maghazi refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip. Israeli warplanes fired two missiles at a civilian car, in which three Palestinians were travelling, on Al-Sikka Street in the east of Khan Yunis. The car was destroyed and the three persons were killed. On the same day, an Israeli warplane fired a missile at a workshop belonging to Salah Abdel Hafez Quffah in Al-Maghazi refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip. Quffah, his son, Iyad, and two others were killed. On 2 July 2007, Israeli occupying forces assassinated 24-year-old Mohammad Abu Al-Haija’. The Israeli Prime Minister vowed to continue his Government’s illegal policy of assassinations. These actions come at the heel of the Israeli killing of 13 Palestinians on 27 June 2007, and of a continuation of the policy of the Government of Israel that has consistently undermined all peace efforts over the years and has cost the Palestinian and Israeli peoples one lost opportunity after another for peace. It was only eight days ago that President Mahmoud Abbas extended his hand in peace at the Sharm Al-Sheikh summit. The Palestinian leadership has made its intention and plan for peace very clear and it has taken concrete steps to forward the cause of peace. Unfortunately, Israel has responded to these sincere calls for peace by shedding more Palestinian blood. Israel, the occupying Power, has also continued its arrest campaigns of dozens of Palestinians throughout the West Bank during raids on Palestinian towns, villages and refugee camps across the West Bank, thus adding more Palestinians to the thousands of political prisoners in Israeli jails. The occupying Power’s illegal actions have not been limited to targeting Palestinians through assassinations and arrests, but also to confiscating and razing Palestinian land. Recently, Israel has razed 180 dunums of agricultural land in the East Jerusalem village of Al-Jib. This action is clearly intended to drive Palestinians out of their land and deprive them of their livelihood to make way for the expansion of the illegal settlement of “Givat Ze’ev” as well as to allow for the construction of the illegal separation wall in that area, which would further isolate Occupied East Jerusalem from its Palestinian surrounding. Building walls and constructing illegal settlements are further measures to intensify the conflict and abort all efforts aimed at achieving peace and justice. These reprehensible occupation measures have been encouraged by the silence of the international community, especially the Security Council, towards Israel’s flagrant violations of international law and international humanitarian law with regards to the Palestinian people in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem. In this regard, we express our expectation that the United Nations Secretariat, as part of its responsibility, respond and condemn these Israeli illegal actions. The international community and the United Nations must take a principled and leading position in confronting such blatant Israeli aggression, which sabotages all sincere efforts to achieve peace in the Middle East. The present letter is in follow-up to our previous 287 letters to you regarding the ongoing crisis in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, since 28 September 2000. These letters, dated from 29 September 2000 (A/55/432-S/2000/921) to 29 June 2007 (A/ES-10/391-S/2007/397),constitute a basic record of the crimes being committed by Israel, the occupying Power, against the Palestinian people since September 2000. For all of these war crimes, State terrorism and systematic human rights violations committed against the Palestinian people, Israel, the occupying Power, must be held accountable and the perpetrators must be brought to justice. In follow-up to the above-mentioned letters, it is my profound regret to inform you that since 29 June 2007 at least eight more Palestinian civilians have been killed by the Israeli occupying forces, raising the total number of martyrs killed since September 2000 to 4,599. (The names of the martyrs that have been identified are listed in the annex to the present letter.) I should be grateful if you would arrange to have the present letter and its annex distributed as a document of the tenth emergency special session of the General Assembly, under agenda item 5, and of the Security Council. (Signed) Riyad Mansour Ambassador Permanent Observer Annex to the identical letters dated 3 July 2007 from the Permanent Observer of Palestine to the United Nations addressed to the Secretary-General and the President of the Security Council Names of martyrs killed by the Israeli occupying forces in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem* (Saturday, 30 June 2007, to Monday, 2 July 2007) Saturday, 30 June 2007 1. Ziyad Shakir Ghannam 2. Ra’ed Fou’ad Ghannam 3. Mohammad Al-Ra’ei 4. Salah Abdel Hafez Quffah 5. Iyad Salah Abdel Hafez Quffah 6. Sameer Ali Abu Musallam 7. Ali Ahmad Al-Aiadi Monday, 2 July 2007 Mohammad Abu Al-Haija’ * The total number of Palestinian martyrs killed by the Israeli occupying forces since 28 September 2000 is 4,599. __________________ __________________  sss1 \* MERGEFORMAT A/ES-10/392 sss2 \* MERGEFORMAT S/2007/405 sss1 \* MERGEFORMAT A/ES-10/392 sss2 \* MERGEFORMAT S/2007/405 FooterJN \* MERGEFORMAT 07-41560 \* MERGEFORMAT 2 \* MERGEFORMAT 3 FooterJN \* MERGEFORMAT 07-41560 United Nations A/ES-10/392–S/2007/405 General Assembly Security Council Distr.: General 5 July 2007 Original: English jobn \* MERGEFORMAT 07-41560 (E) 060707 Barcode \* MERGEFORMAT *0741560*