Ramallah, October 03 (QNA) - The Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs condemned the new crime committed by the Israeli occupation forces at dawn Saturday, when they carried out an air campaign in the Gaza Strip that killed five Palestinians, including four women, and wounded others.

In a statement Saturday, the Ministry stressed that shelling a house in the enclave by Israeli fighter jets underscores the relentless campaign to annihilate Palestinians and pursue war crimes and crimes against humanity, as well as target Muslim and Christian Palestinians in all their diversity.

The statement called on the international community to assume its legal, political and moral responsibilities, operationalize international accountability mechanisms, halt all forms of impunity, and ensure that the protection of civilians remains of the essence, culminating in an all-out and enduring halt to the armed aggression.

It called for global action to compel Israel to fully withdraw from the Gaza enclave, ensure the uninterrupted flow of humanitarian aid into Gaza without encumbrance, and create conditions for recovery and reconstruction, while ending the unlawful occupation of the territory of the State of Palestine and securing its independence and sovereignty, as well as the Palestinians' right to self-determination.

The unabated offensive, Israel's persistent nixing of the ceasefire deal, its implementation of US President Donald Trump's plan and Security Council Resolution 2803, as well as its blocking of aid deliveries despite starvation and suffering, lay bare its intent to annihilate the Palestinian people and force them to flee, while showing no qualms about the efforts of President Trump, nations and mediators, the statement said.

As such, the Ministry called on the US administration to bear its responsibility and act immediately and powerfully to curb the occupation's crimes and compel Israel, the de facto occupying power, to immediately and thoroughly cease targeting civilians, strictly comply with all provisions of the ceasefire, ensure that these crimes are not repeated, and provide the Palestinian people with the necessary protection.

Palestinian National Council President Rawhi Fattouh said the shelling of this house in western Gaza City unveils once again the character of an entity that knows no language in dealing with Palestinians other than killing, devastation and terrorism.

Among the victims of this Israeli shelling were a Christian mother and her daughter, as well as an academic woman. Fattouh stressed that this confirms that Israel's killing machine neither cares about the victims' religion or age, nor their professions.

He stated that Israel targets Palestinians simply because they are Palestinian, whether they are Muslims or Christians, women, children or academics.

Fattouh further emphasized that the targeting of a Christian mother and her daughter, an academic, and other victims lays bare the repudiation of claims portraying the aggression as a war against a particular side, while the realities on the ground reveal the targeting of an entire people and the erasure of families and individuals whose only offense is that they are Palestinian. (QNA)