Israel protests at UN against terror attacks

[Gimel]

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Arye Mekel, the outgoing deputy Israeli ambassador at the UN, sent a letter to the president of the UN Security Council describing the attack that killed two Palestinian bystanders, and wounded six IDF soldiers and 12 Palestinian civilians. The letter was also sent to UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan.

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Mekel, in his letter, wrote,"The continued Palestinian use of terrorism, with the support and toleration of the Palestinian leadership, is not just an ongoing and egregious violation of basic international norms, signed commitments and the explicit terms of the road map. It is the enemy of peace in the region, and endangers the lives of both Israelis and Palestinians."

Turning to the firing of Kassam rockets, Mekel said "the firing of rockets from civilian areas in Beit Hanoun is a grave violation of international humanitarian law not only because it targets innocent Israeli civilians. Palestinian residents' lives are also put at risk, and held hostage, by the continued and despicable tactics adopted by Palestinian terrorists by which innocent Palestinians are used as human shields and civilian areas are used as staging ground for terrorist atrocities in direct violation of the most basic human rights and humanitarian norms."

Israeli diplomats at the UN sardonically told UN Officials to expect the names of the two Palestinians killed at the Kalandia roadblock last Wednesday to be included in a list of Palestinian "martyrs" that Palestinian UN observer Nasser al-Kidwa will present to the UN next month. Al-Kidwa placed the name of Hassan Jameel el-Zaneen on a list of Palestinian "martyrs" he submitted to the Security Council of Palestinians last month.

The 15-year-old el-Zaneen, according to Israeli officials, was ...

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