New York, October 27 (QNA) – The State of Palestine has dispatched three identical letters putting the UN Secretary-General, Greece’s presidency of the UN Security Council this month, and the President of the UN General Assembly on notice over the grave escalation of Israeli actions against Palestinian civilians across the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, with particular concern over developments in Hebron Governorate.

In those letters, the Permanent Representative of the State of Palestine to the UN, Riyad Mansour, said since last Friday, the Israeli occupation authorities have imposed a maximum military siege and blanket lockdown on Hebron Governorate, exposing nearly half a million Palestinians to collective punishment.

The letters noted that these actions include forced evictions, the flattening of homes, mass arrests, inhumane treatment, the seizure of Palestinians’ assets, and the closure of the Ibrahimi Mosque. Meanwhile, cities and refugee camps across the northern West Bank continue to grapple with forced displacement and widespread Israeli destruction, in a grave breach of international law, including the Fourth Geneva Convention, the letters read.

The number of families evicted from their homes in embattled areas, particularly Deir Bahha and Al-Jalda, has risen to 488, affecting 3,171 Palestinians, mostly women and children, as well as elderly and ailing individuals, Mansour highlighted.

He noted that approximately 500 houses have been destroyed, while mass detentions have been carried out in the central city, towns, villages, and contiguous refugee camps.

Israel is taking advantage of the anguish engulfing the Palestinian people to advance its current electoral campaign, Mansour said, stressing that this approach fuels further escalation and killings.

  He added that the occupation authorities continue to carry out daily lethal attacks and take colonial measures to intensify their campaign of ethnic cleansing across the occupied Palestinian territory, including East Jerusalem, dehumanizing Palestinians and ramping up settler terror with total impunity, with the ultimate goal of the effacement of the Palestinian people.

These crimes must stop, as they constitute grave violations of international humanitarian law, including the prohibitions on collective punishment, acts of vengeance, pillaging, and the forced transfer of individuals, the Palestinian representative argued. He added that these actions violate the rights of the Palestinian people and multiple UN resolutions, particularly the advisory opinion issued by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in 2024.

Mansour called on the international community, including the Security Council, to take resolute measures at all levels under international law, including imposing an embargo on arms supplies to Israel as the occupying power, to compel it to cease its military escalation and arbitrary measures in Hebron and throughout the occupied State of Palestine.

This policy of collective punishment and blanket lockdown must come to an end, the Palestinian official contended, demanding accountability for those responsible for these flagrant crimes and abuses and deterrent measures to ensure the protection of the Palestinian people, their rights, and their sacrosanct places.

He likewise clamored for an end to this longstanding oppression and to this abhorrent colonial occupation. (QNA)