Permanent Observer Mission of the State of Palestine to the United Nations (UN), Riyad Mansour, sent three identical letters to each of the Secretary-General of the United Nations, the President of the UN Security Council, and the President of the UN General Assembly, about the critical situation in the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt), including Jerusalem, as a result of the continuing and escalating policies and practices of Israel.

Mansour said in the letters that the Israeli forces killed the Palestinian youth Ahed Ekhlil (25 years old) from the town of Beit Ummar in the West Bank, and they shot Haroun Abu Aram (24 years old) on 2 January from a distance of zero in Masafer Yatta, which caused him a quadriplegic paralysis and a total disability.

He stressed the need to hold Israel accountable for all its systematic violations, and to bring it to justice, stressing that the absence of accountability has encouraged such illegal behavior.

Moreover, he confirmed that according to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), the year 2020 witnessed the largest number of demolitions of Palestinian homes and buildings since the demolitions began to be documented.

Mansour indicated that the Israeli authorities continued its violent campaign of arrest and detention in Palestine during the year 2020, pointing to the arrest of 4,636 Palestinians, including 543 minors under the age of 18 years and 128 women, within one year only, in addition to continuing its policy of administrative detention.

He pointed out that settlers continue their violent attacks, including uprooting and burning agricultural crops and trees, which has led to the destruction of the livelihoods of more Palestinian families, in addition to continuing their serious attacks on the holy sites, especially Al-Aqsa Mosque.

He stressed the need for the international community to demand Israel to immediately cease all its illegal settlement activities in the oPt, saying that these activities constitute a flagrant violation of international law and amount to grave violations and war crimes.