The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates said today, in reaction to Israel’s killing this morning of five Palestinians in the ancient West Bank city of Jericho, that the State of Palestine will not relent in its pursuit for accountability for Israel’s crimes against the Palestinian people.
“The State of Palestine deplores Israel’s recurrent targeted killings and the unlawful use of collective punishment in violation of most elementary principles of humanity, morality, dignity, and rule of law,” the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
“Today, Israel killed five Palestinians and injured tens of people. Since the beginning of this year, Israel has killed over 40 Palestinians with full impunity and no accountability,” it added.
“The entire Palestinian people under Israel’s illegal occupation are protected persons as per international law. Israel’s indiscriminate punishment of the Palestinian people and massacres are war crimes and crimes against humanity and require actions beyond condemnations,” said the Foreign Ministry, adding, “This is not a cycle of violence but rather a campaign of targeted killings against the Palestinian people. Israel continues to violate its obligations towards the protected population and disregards its binding duty to end the occupation.”
It said “Israel’s deliberate and declared policy is clear: an entrenched system of subjugation and domination and an accelerated strategic fragmentation to prevent any resistance or collective expression to its oppression. Whether in Gaza, Jenin, or Jericho, Israel is trying to create irreversible facts on the ground to sustain its illegal occupation and apartheid regime and pursue its annexationist policies.”
The Ministry concluded its statement by stressing that “the international community and the Secretary General of the United Nations must act, swiftly and concretely, to uphold international law to provide protection to the Palestinian people and bring a halt to Israel’s grave breaches. The State of Palestine will not relent in its pursuit for accountability for Israel’s crimes against our people.”
Source: Palestine News and Information Agency