Erekat: Palestinians request UN probe of Israeli 'executions'

Senior PLO official makes remarks following meeting with UN special envoy to the Middle East peace process.

The Palestinians have requested that the United Nations open an official investigation into the "execution of Palestinians by Israel," senior PLO Secretary-General Saeb Erekat said Monday following his meeting with UN special envoy to the Middle East peace process Nikolai Malednov.

Erekat said that there are 207 cases of executions that require international investigation and "Israel must be brought to justice."

The Palestinian official said that in his meeting with Malednov he also discussed what he stated was Israel's "collective punishment" of the Palestinians, which he said included the failure to return bodies of "martyrs" killed while attempting attacks, the destruction of Palestinian homesand the expulsion of families and activities in the settlements.


"After joining a number of international organizations, including the International Criminal Court, the Palestinians are ready to grant their full support and to provide reports and evidence of arbitrary executions to every UN or other relevant international body, in order to begin an immediate investigation into the current situation," he said.

Erekat's comments came days after an IDF soldier was documented on film shooting dead a wounded Palestinian terrorist who was lying prone on the ground in the Hebron area.

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Yaakov Lappin contributed to this report.

http://www.jpost.com/Arab-Israeli-Conflict/Erekat-Palestinians-request-UN-probe-of-Israeli-executions-449452