Qatari Al-Jazeera Media Network on Tuesday submitted the case of the assassination of Palestinian journalist, Shireen Abu Akleh, by the Israeli occupation forces to the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague, Netherlands.
The call came six months after the killing of the Al-Jazeera correspondent, who also held American citizenship, at the hands of the occupation on May 11, while she was covering a storming of the Jenin camp in the occupied West Bank.
Al-Jazeera said in a statement that it had provided the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) with new evidence that Shireen was deliberately targeted, noting that video clips had been provided confirming that Shireen and her colleague were subjected to direct gunfire.
The Al-Jazeera statement confirmed that the occupation’s allegations regarding the killing of the Palestinian journalist by mistake were “baseless,” adding, “All the evidence presented to the court confirms that there was no exchange of fire in the place, except for the bullets that targeted her.”
According to the Qatari network, this evidence presented on Tuesday to the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) undermines the findings of the Israeli army’s investigation and indicates that this premeditated killing of journalist Shireen Abu Akleh was part of a broader campaign to target and silence Al-Jazeera.
Al-Jazeera welcomed the interest of the international community, human rights organizations, and bodies defending media freedom in the case, and its continued call for accountability for those responsible for this heinous crime.
Al-Jazeera Media Network renews its commitment to achieving justice for the journalist, Shireen Abu Akleh, by taking all available measures and means to hold her killers accountable.
After submitting the file, Al-Jazeera organized a press conference in The Hague, which was attended by representatives of the network’s legal team, members of the late family, journalists, and officials from human rights organizations and bodies defending media freedom.
“I am here at the ICC on behalf of my family because, after months of submitting multiple requests to the ICC, the Court has yet to take meaningful action towards accountability,” said Lina Abu Akleh.
During the conference, Lina Abu Akleh, Shireen’s niece, said, “The criminal court did not take serious measures to investigate, and we have a lot of evidence and reports confirming that Sherine was targeted, and we still do not know who killed her or who gave him the order to do so.”
US opposes Al-Jazeera’s referral of Shireen Abu Akleh’s case to ICC
US State Department spokesman Ned Price said, on Tuesday, that his country opposes Al-Jazeera bringing the case of the assassination of Shireen Abu Akleh to the International Criminal Court (ICC).
“We oppose that,” US State Department spokesman Ned Price told reporters, adding that “the International Criminal Court should focus on the core of its jurisdiction, which is to be the last resort to punish and deter atrocity crimes.”
On Tuesday, Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid reiterated Israel’s continued refusal to investigate any external authority with the Israeli army forces. Lapid said, “No one will investigate the soldiers of the Israeli army and no one will talk to us about morals during the war, and certainly not Al-Jazeera.”
In September, the Israeli Occupation Army published the results of its investigation into the incident, revealing that there was “a high probability that Abu Akleh was hit by Israeli army fire during an exchange of fire with those identified as armed Palestinians.”
The occupation army confirmed that “it is still not possible to determine who killed Abu Akleh conclusively,” noting that “there is another hypothesis that is less likely, which is that Abu Akleh was hit by Palestinian fire.”
It is noteworthy that 51-year-old Shireen Abu Akleh was one of the first field correspondents for the Al-Jazeera channel, and for a quarter of a century, she was in the heart of danger to cover the wars of the Israeli occupation and its attacks and assaults on the Palestinian people.
Shireen was assassinated on May 11 by an Israeli sniper at the entrance to Jenin, as she was on her way with other journalists to cover the occupation’s storming of the camp. Her assassination sparked Arab outrage and widespread international condemnation.
