10 March 2022; MEMO: A member of the PLO's Executive Committee said on Wednesday that Israel is escalating its crimes and violations against Palestinians as the eyes of the world turn to Ukraine. Saleh Rafat made his comment as the people of occupied Palestine mourn those killed by Israel recently in Jerusalem, Ramallah, Jenin, Nablus and Burqa.
"The Israeli occupation is exploiting what is happening in Ukraine and accelerating practices and measures that reinforce its authority on the ground in occupied Jerusalem and all the occupied Palestinian lands," said the Secretary General of the Palestinian Democratic Union. "Israel is continuing the expulsion and premeditated killing of unarmed Palestinians, executing them and stealing their property in the Jordan Valley, Jerusalem and other occupied cities."
Rafat noted that the Israeli occupation authorities are also seizing the opportunity of Russia's invasion of Ukraine to take more Jews to Israel in order to resettle them in the illegal colonies built in the occupied West Bank and Jerusalem.
The Palestinian representative to the UN has given a letter to the UN Secretary-General and the heads of the UN General Assembly and the Security Council pointing out what Israel is doing. The PLO official stressed that the ongoing Israeli actions in the occupied Palestinian lands, including the detention and torture of Palestinians, amount to war crimes.
He called on the international community to put pressure on Israel to stop its daily violations against the Palestinians, including sanctions similar to those now imposed so rapidly on Russia.
