PLO Secretary General Dr. Saeb Erekat after meeting the UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, Mr. Nickolay Mladenov

Following a request made last October to the UN Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial, Summary, or Arbitrary Executions, Mr. Christof Heyns, today we have requested that the United Nations initiate an official investigation into Israeli extrajudicial killings of Palestinians

The government of Israel has announced an investigation into the brutal execution  of Palestinian citizen Abed Al-Fattah Al Sharif in Hebron last Thursday,  however, based on historic facts, the Israeli investigations has yet to serve justice. On the contrary, horrendous crimes, such as the assassination of Rachel Corrie, have been rewarded with impunity.

Since September 13, with the execution of 18-year-old Hadeel Hashlamon, 207 cases of Israeli extrajudicial executions of Palestinians urgently require an international investigation. These executions are not isolated events and Israel must be held accountable for committing these crimes. 

During the meeting, we also raised the issue of collective punishments, including the retention of the bodies of Palestinian martyrs by occupation authorities, home demolitions, forced relocation and exile of Palestinian families of martyrs as well as settlement activities, including the latest plans to build 900 settlement units in the illegal settlement of Pisgat Ze’ev, between Occupied East Jerusalem and Ramallah. 

As with all international organization Palestine has joined or acceded to, including the International Criminal Court, we offer our full support, including furnishing reports and evidence, to Mr. Heyns and other relevant UN and international bodies in order to initiate immediate investigations into the current situation and bring justice to the people of Palestine.