NEW YORK, August 29, 2006, (WAFA)- Riyad Mansour, Ambassador, Permanent Observer of Palestine to the United Nations asserted that the humanitarian aid that has reached the Gaza strip has been very limited due to the complete closure of the Karni (al-Montar) crossing point.

In three identical letters, yesterday, to the UN Secretary General, President of UN Security Council and President of the UN General Assembly, Mansour said that such situation exacerbated the humanitarian crisis that has been unfolding in the Gaza strip, increasing the suffering and hardship endured by the Gaza population.

"It is my regret to inform you that nearly two months have past and the Israeli military agression against the civilian Palestinian population in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including east Jerusalem, especially in the Gaza Strip, has not ceased," Mansour said.

He affirmed that the Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) continue to kill, injure, destroy and commit other violations of international law, including international humanitarian law, against the civilian population under its brutal occupation.

"Over the past two months, more than two hundred Palestinians, including over 45 children, have been killed, thousands have been injured, and thousands have been forced to leave their homes due to repeated ground incursions and intensive shelling by the Israeli occupying forces," Permanent Observer of Palestine said.

He mentioned that approximately 120 Palestinian structures, including houses, workshops and greenhouses have been destroyed and another 160 damaged by military actions by IOF, according to the latest situation report from the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) dated 24 August 2006.

Mansour recalled the warning by The World Food Program (WFP) Country Director in the Occupied Palestinian Territory which revealed that the Gaza economy is reaching rock bottom and that industries which were once the backbone of Gaza's economy and food system, such as the agriculture and fishing industries, are suffocated by the current situation and risk losing all viability.

He asserted that this present letter is in follow-up to previous 262 letters 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 21 August 2006 (A/ES-10/354-S/2006/641), constitute a basic record of the crimes being committed by Israel, the occupying Power, against the Palestinian people since September 2000. Moreover, we reiterate that 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," he said.

S.A.S. (20:28 P) (17:28 GMT)