United Nations

A/62/843­S/2008/328
Distr.: General 14 May 2008 Original: English

General Assembly Security Council

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 14 May 2008 from the Chargé d'affaires a.i. of the Permanent Mission of Israel to the United Nations addressed to the Secretary-General and the President of the Security Council
It is with grave concern that I write to inform you of yet another terrorist attack that occurred only a few hours ago, in which 34 Israeli civilians were injured by a Grad rocket launched by Palestinian terrorists from the Gaza Strip. The Grad rocket crashed into a clinic located on the second floor of a crowded shopping mall in central Ashkelon, where innocent men, women and children were going about their daily lives. The attack caused terrible anxiety and panic. Three civilians were trapped under debris as a result of the attack and were evacuated in serious condition. An infant girl was evacuated with moderate wounds. This is our third letter in less than a week informing you and the Security Council of Israeli casualties as a result of the constant and indiscriminate rocket fire from the Gaza Strip. Israel holds Hamas, as the ruling party, accountable for another vicious terrorist attack, which is in flagrant violation of international law and the most basic principles of humanitarian law. The unremitting and indiscriminate rocket fire has levied an insufferable toll on the civilian population of southern Israel, triggering a severe humanitarian situation there. The safety and security of all citizens in our region will remain in peril so long as Palestinian terrorism continues unabated. Israel expects the international community to voice its strong condemnation of this attack. Israel will not stand idly by as its citizens are subjected to this constant terror, and reserves the right to defend itself, according to its inherent right under Article 51 of the Charter of the United Nations. I should be grateful if you would have 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) Daniel Carmon Chargé d'affaires, a.i. 08-34027 (E) 150508

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