Letter dated 1989 from the Permanent Observer for Palestine to the UN Office at Geneva, Denounces Acts of Genocide in the OPT

On 18 September 1989, Nabil Ramlawi, the Permanent Observer of Palestine to the United Nations Office at Geneva, submitted a letter to the UN Human Rights apparatus denouncing what he described as systematic and deliberate violations of human rights by Israeli forces in the occupied Palestinian territories. The communication, later circulated as an official UN document (E/CN.4/1990/59), accuses Israel of committing “crimes against humanity, war crimes, and acts of genocide” against Palestinian civilians during the First Intifada (1987-1993).

According to the letter, more than 900 Palestinians had been killed in the 21 months following the outbreak of the Intifada in December 1987. It cites the use of live ammunition, plastic bullets and poison gas, and references incidents in Nahalin (April 1989), Nuseirat Camp (May 1989) and Jabalya (May 1989). The document also accuses Israeli forces of targeting women and children, reporting cases of forced abortions, miscarriages caused by gas or beatings, and the killing of minors, including 14-year-old Amjad Hussein Jibril, a U.S. national.

The letter further denounces mass detentions, claiming more than 50,000 Palestinians were held without trial under administrative orders, with reports of torture in facilities such as Ashkelon and Ansar 3. Other allegations include deportations, prolonged curfews, the closure of schools and universities affecting over 360,000 students, widespread house demolitions, and the uprooting of thousands of olive and citrus trees.

Ramlawi requested that the letter be transmitted to the Chairman of the 45th session of the Commission on Human Rights and to the Special Committee to Investigate Israeli Practices Affecting the Human Rights of the Population of the Occupied Territories.