15 Feb 2022; MEMO: The Permanent Observer for the State of Palestine at the UN called on Monday for Palestinian families to be protected from Israel's forced expulsion programme in Sheikh Jarrah, Anadolu has reported. Riyad Mansour made the plea in a letter to UN Secretary-General António Guterres, the Security Council and the General Assembly.
Mansour stressed the need to take "urgent measures" to save Palestinian families from being "illegally and forcefully expelled" by the Israeli occupation. He explained that Israel, the occupying power, has increased its violations of human rights and crimes against the Palestinians, while it is still able to avoid being questioned and held to account, despite the expulsions being a "flagrant violation of international law."
The ambassador also pointed out the increasing number of political detentions carried out by the Israeli occupation forces and violations by extremist Jewish settlers. He drew attention to Israel's assassination of three Palestinians in Nablus on 8 February, as well as the killing of a Palestinian boy, Mohammad Abu Salah, in Jenin on Monday. An intentional shoot to kill policy against civilians is, he said, a war crime that should be questioned.
In the letter, Mansour reminded the UN officials and members that Israel has wounded 215 Palestinians in the past two weeks, including 28 children. Moreover, it has demolished or "confiscated" 53 homes and facilities, displacing at least 400 Palestinian men, women and children.
In conclusion, the Palestinian ambassador stressed the importance of the International Criminal Court's investigation into war crimes and reiterated that the questions to be asked of Israel should include its violation of all UN resolutions related to the occupation of the Palestinian territories.
