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Palestinians Reiterate Call for UN Protection Force
Palestinian Permanent Observer to the United Nations Nasser Al-Kidwa Friday reiterated the call to the Security Council for the urgent establishment of a UN protection force for the Palestinians.
This is the third time the Palestinians made the same call since late last month.
In a letter to the Security Council, Al-Kidwa said, "I must bring to your attention the fact that, since my last letter to you, Israel occupying forces have killed 23 more Palestinian civilian, including children, in the occupied Palestinian territory, including Jerusalem."
"This brings the total number of deaths to 194 Palestinians," the observer said.
"The excessive and indiscriminate use of force by the Israeli occupying forces, including the use of tanks and other heavy weaponry, has also caused a vast number of injuries and many of the injured are in serious conditions," he said.
"The Israeli occupying forces have intensified measures to ensure the total isolation of Palestinian cities throughout the occupied Palestinian territory, thus increasing difficulties for the Palestinian population," Al-Kidwa said.
He said the international community cannot allow this Israeli campaign of killing and terror against the Palestinian people to continue and it must insist on the full implementation of relevant resolutions of the Security Council and the General Assembly.
The observer once again urged the council to establish a UN protection force to be dispatched to the occupied Palestinian territory, including Jerusalem, for the purpose of providing much needed protection for the Palestinian civilian population.
The Security Council held consultations with both the Palestinian and Israeli sides on the matter last Friday at the UN headquarters in New York.
Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat stressed the importance of a UN protection force for the Palestinians while Israel's Ambassador to UN Yehuda Lancry saw no need for it.
The United States, one of the five permanent members of the Security Council and a strong ally of Israeli, said there will be no UN protection force without the agreement of Israel.
The recent clashes between Israelis and Palestinians were prompted by a visit on September 28 of Israeli opposition leader Ariel Sharon to a Jerusalem holy shrine.
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