Erekat reiterates call for inquiry into 'Israeli war crimes'

Erekat said he sent a letter to Christof Heyns, UN Special Rapporteur on Extra-judicial, Summary or Arbitrary Executions, asking him to launch an immediate investigation.

By KHALED ABU TOAMEH
Updated: OCTOBER 18, 2015 05:15
US SECRETARY of State John Kerry and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas talk while PLO Executive Committee member Yasser Abed Rabbo and Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat talk on the side during a meeting at the presidential compound in Ramallah. (photo credit: REUTERS)
US SECRETARY of State John Kerry and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas talk while PLO Executive Committee member Yasser Abed Rabbo and Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat talk on the side during a meeting at the presidential compound in Ramallah.
(photo credit: REUTERS)
PLO Secretary-General Saeb Erekat on Saturday again accused Israel of carrying out summary executions of Palestinians and called for an international inquiry into Israeli “crimes.”
Erekat said he sent a letter to Christof Heyns, UN special rapporteur on extra-judicial, summary or arbitrary executions, asking him to open an immediate investigation into the killings of Palestinians over the past few weeks.
Referring to the case of 13-year-old Ahmed Manasra, the east Jerusalem boy who took part in the stabbing of two Israelis in the Pisgat Ze’ev neighborhood last week, Erekat claimed that police left him bleeding on the ground without medical treatment.
Erekat said that although Mansara did not pose a threat to anyone, he was nevertheless attacked with “axes and clubs by settlers.”
Mansara is currently receiving medical treatment at Hadassah-University Medical Center.
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas claimed last week that Israel had “executed” Manasra in “cold blood.”
Erekat accused Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of deceiving the international community “in order to justify his repressive and illegal policies.”
Netanyahu’s attacks on Abbas were a “failed attempt to divert attention from the fact that Palestinian civilians, including children, were being systematically targeted by the occupation forces as part of extra-judicial executions,” Erekat said.
PA Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah also repeated on Saturday the charge that Israel is “executing” innocent Palestinian civilians, including children. Hamdallah held the Israeli government fully responsible for the “aggression” of the IDF and settlers against Palestinians.