In follow-up to my recent letters, dated 29 September (A/55/432-S/2000/921), 2 October (A/55/437-S/2000/930), 4 October (A/55/450-S/2000/957), 9 October (A/55/466-S/2000/971), 12 October (A/55/474-S/2000/984) and 16 October 2000 (A/55/490-S/2000/993), I regret to inform you once again that Israel, the occupying Power, continues its bloody campaign of terror, massacring and injuring more Palestinian civilians each day. The excessive use of force by the Israeli occupying army continues in total disregard for international law and Security Council resolution 1322 (2000) of 7 October 2000, as well as General Assembly resolution ES-10/7 adopted by the Assembly at its tenth emergency special session on 20 October 2000.
 
Since my previous letter, Israeli forces have killed 28 more Palestinians, bringing the total number of deaths to 115. (The names of the martyrs are annexed.) The Israeli forces have also injured hundreds more, many of whom remain in critical condition in overwhelmed and overcrowded hospitals in the Occupied Palestinian Territory.
 
Using heavy weaponry, the Israeli occupying forces continue to encroach upon Palestinian cities. This has included the deployment of additional tanks and the use of tanks, rockets, missiles and helicopter gunships against the Palestinian people. In fact, yesterday as well as today, the Israeli army launched rockets from helicopter gunships into civilian-populated areas north of Bethlehem in the village of Beit Jala. Such violent Israeli military actions have resulted in the loss of Palestinian lives and the severe destruction of property in wholly civilian areas in the Occupied Palestinian Territory.
 
Furthermore, Israel, the occupying Power, continues to impose restrictive blockades on the movement of persons and goods into, out of and throughout the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including Jerusalem. Today, the occupying Power once again shut down the airspace at Gaza International Airport.
 
In addition, the Israeli Government has taken additional political steps making the salvaging of the Middle East peace process even more difficult. The Prime Minister of Israel declared a so-called time out from the peace process. In addition to the fact that the peace process is not a game, such a public attitude brings into serious question the commitment of this Government to both the peace process and to the recent Sharm el-Sheikh understandings. We are seriously concerned that this new Israeli military and political escalation might be in preparation to take the Israeli campaign against our people to a new intensified level.
 
We reiterate once more the necessity for the international community, in particular the Security Council, to ensure Israeli compliance with international law, as well as with Security Council resolution 1322 (2000) and General Assembly resolution ES-10/7.
 
I should be grateful if you would arrange to have the text of the present letter distributed as a document of the tenth emergency special session of the General Assembly and of the Security Council.