General Assembly
Sixty-second session
Agenda items 17 and 18

The situation in the Middle East

Question of Palestine
Security Council
Sixty-third year



		Identical letters dated 4 February 2008 from the Permanent Representative of Israel to the United Nations addressed to the Secretary-General and the President of the Security Council


	I write to inform you of a devastating terrorist attack that took place today in Israel.
	Early this morning, two Palestinian terrorists carried out a suicide attack against Israeli civilians at a shopping mall in the southern town of Dimona. One Israeli civilian was killed and 11 others were wounded, among them one critically and two moderately. The two terrorists were killed during the course of the attack; the first terrorist detonated and killed himself, causing the initial explosion, and the second terrorist was killed by an alert police officer, who thwarted that terrorist from detonating a second bomb as rescuers arrived at the scene to assist the wounded.
	This alarming and fatal act of Palestinian terrorism demonstrates very clearly what the terrorist organizations stand for and what they are trying to accomplish. Like the daily Qassam rocket attacks, this terrorist attack was deliberately targeted at civilians, with the express purpose of maiming and murdering them. Moreover, the second terrorist waited specifically until rescue workers arrived to attempt to detonate his bomb. If not for the heroism of the police officer, the terrorists would have succeeded in killing countless others.
	My delegation has previously written about the urgent need for an end to all Palestinian violence and terrorism against Israel. As this terrorist attack shows yet again, Palestinian terrorism remains the greatest obstacle to peace and security in the region. The Palestinian leadership must stop the violence, dismantle the terrorist infrastructure, end the cycle of impunity and bring the terrorists to justice. Furthermore, Israel urges all States to adhere to their international obligations, in particular, Security Council resolution 1373 (2001), which calls on all States to “prevent the movement of terrorists or terrorist groups” and to refrain from supporting them.
	Israel will continue to defend itself and its citizens, as any other sovereign nation would, as is its right under Article 51 of the United Nations Charter.
	I should be grateful if you would have the text of the present letter circulated as a document of the sixty-second session of the General Assembly, under agenda items 17 and 18, and of the Security Council.


(Signed) Dan Gillerman
Ambassador
Permanent Representative









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 United Nations
A/62/673–S/2008/72
 
 General Assembly
Security Council
Distr.: General
5 February 2008

Original: English


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