NEW YORK, November 18, 2008 (WAFA)- Feda Abdelhady-Nasser, Counselor of the Permanent Observer Mission of Palestine to the United Nations (POMP) in New York, said that, “Israel, the occupying Power, continues to escalate its military campaign in the Palestinian Territory, particularly in the besieged Gaza Strip, is a violation of the Egyptian-brokered ceasefire that has held since June 2008.”

In a letter addressed to Ban Ki-moon, Secretary-General of the United Nations,  Father Miguel d’Escoto Brockmann, President of the United Nations General Assembly, Jorge Urbina, President of the United Nations Security Council, Abdelhady-Nasser said that, in the period since 4 November, which marked the start of this harsh military campaign, Israeli Occupation Forces have killed at least 14 Palestinians and caused directed harm to the entire civilian population in the Gaza Strip as it has completely closed all Gaza crossings, even to essential international humanitarian aid, severely disrupting food and fuel supply. She added that this has impacted United Nations operations on the ground, including that of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), which provides food rations to over three-quarters of a million Palestinians left needy and hungry by this inhumane Israeli siege.

Abdelhady-Nasser said that in a previous letter, they had clearly warned against this willful and senseless Israeli escalation of violence, which solely aims at undermining the Palestinian Authority's efforts to maintain calm and promote reconciliation and at diverting attention from the peace process by dragging us all back into a vicious cycle of violence.

In this regard, on 16 November, Israeli Minister Shaul Mofaz publicly called for the intensification of Israel’s illegal campaign of extra-judicial assassinations and continuation of this campaign as an official component of Israeli policy. Further, Israeli Vice Prime Minister Haim Ramon has called for cutting off electricity and water supplies to Gaza's 1.5 million residents.

Abdelhady-Nasser estimated that, “such actions and declarations reflect utter disregard for the lives of the Palestinian civilians under Israeli occupation.”  She stressed that, as in the past, such military escalation will not bring stability or security to the area, but will only engender more violence, create more humanitarian suffering and loss and further undermine peace efforts.  

Abdelhady-Nasser quoted Article 33 of the Fourth Geneva Convention, to prove that such actions are strictly forbidden under international humanitarian law, regardless of the pretext used by Israel, “nothing can justify the collective punishment of over 1.5 million Palestinian civilians.” She affirmed that the United Nations, including the Security Council, and the High Contracting Parties to the Fourth Geneva Convention must uphold their legal and moral responsibility to end this inhumane policy that only targets civilians including children, women, elderly and patients in urgent need of medical attention.

Abdelhady-Nasser closed her letter by saying that, “despite the tragic, historic injustice that has befallen them and the continued suffering and hardship they endure, the Palestinian people still extend their hand in peace.”  Accordingly, she recalled the statement by President Mahmoud Abbas on this occasion, in which he stated:  “While we have chosen a just and comprehensive peace as means to fully achieving our rights, we say at the same time that peace and security can not be achieved by the spearheads of brutal occupation”.