RIYADH: Jasem Mohamed Albudaiwi, Secretary General of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), strongly condemned the brutal bombardment by the Israeli occupation forces on the Al Mawasi area in the city of Khan Yunis in the Gaza Strip, stressing that "this shelling is evidence of the series of systematic and ongoing Israeli crimes against the brotherly Palestinian people." Albudaiwi stated that the Israeli occupation forces, through their crimes against the defenseless Palestinian people, have become unrecognised by any principles, laws or treaties, whether at the legal, humanitarian or moral level. He said that the continued arrogance of the Israeli occupation forces and the commission of heinous crimes against the lives of innocent people requires the international community to immediately assume its responsibilities and stop these violations and hold their perpetrators accountable. Albudaiwi reiterated the steadfast positions of the GCC states towards the Palestinian cause, as the central and primary issue for Arabs and Muslims, and support for the establishment of an independent Palestinian state within the borders of June 4, 1967, with East Jerusalem as its capital, in accordance with the Arab Peace Initiative and the resolutions of international legitimacy. Source: Palestine News and Information Agency – WAFA