The family of slain Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh rejected the Israeli army’s report into her killing and called for an investigation by the International Criminal Court (ICC).
Israeli occupation army on Monday admitted, for the first time, that there is a high possibility that Shireen Abu Akleh was mistakenly hit by the Israeli army’s fire that was targeting suspected Palestinian militants.
The Abu Akleh family said, in a statement, that the Israeli army’s report “attempted to obscure the truth and avoid responsibility for Shireen’s death”. The family added, “We’ve known for over four months now that an Israeli soldier shot and killed Shireen.”
The family referred to various press investigations conducted by CNN, the Associated Press, the New York Times, Al Jazeera, B’Tselem, the United Nations, and others.
“And yet, as expected, Israel has refused to take responsibility for murdering Shireen. Our family is not surprised by this outcome since it’s obvious to anyone that Israeli war criminals cannot investigate their own crimes. However, we remain deeply hurt, frustrated, and disappointed,” the statement said.
“We will continue to demand that the US government follow through with its stated commitments to accountability.”
“As Israel is unable to bring itself to accountability, we demand a comprehensive investigation by the ICC,” the family added.
B’tselem’s investigation
B’tselem, an Israeli human rights group, said Abu Akleh’s killing is part of Israel’s “outrageous open-fire policy”.
“It’s not an investigation, it’s whitewash; it was no mistake, it’s policy,” the group said in a statement.
“Enormous public and international pressure was needed to make Israel spurt a faint confession that one of its soldiers had killed journalist Shireen Abu Akleh, while at the same time shaking off any responsibility for her death,” it said.
“The killing of Abu Akleh is the predictable result of Israel’s outrageous open fire policy in the Occupied Territories. This policy claims more and more victims while the whitewash continues undisturbed.”
Al Jazeera Media Network
Al Jazeera Media Network condemned the results of the Israeli occupation army’s investigation.
The network said in a statement that “the results of this investigation confirm that the tacit hesitation of the Israeli occupation army is intended to evade the criminal responsibility it bears for the killing of Shireen Abu Akleh, which was proven by several international and professional investigations.”
Al-Jazeera network denounced “the Israeli army’s failure to explicitly acknowledge his crime, and its attempt to evade prosecution of the perpetrators.”
The network demanded that an independent international body investigate the crime of the assassination of Shireen Abu Aqleh, in order to establish justice for Shireen, her family and fellow journalists around the world.
In turn, a spokesman for Palestinian President Nabil Abu Rudeineh said, “This report is a new Israeli attempt to evade responsibility for the killing of journalist Shireen Abu Akleh.”
It is noteworthy that Al Jazeera correspondent Shireen Abu Akleh was killed on May 11, 2022, and the Palestinian Ministry of Health said at the time that she was shot in the head by the Israeli army while covering its storming of the city of Jenin in the northern West Bank.
On Friday, May 13, thousands of Palestinians in East Jerusalem participated in the funeral of Shireen Abu Akleh.
The violence erupted as the Israeli police prevented mourners from raising Palestinian flags and chanting national slogans at the American-Palestinian journalist’s funeral.
The coffin of Abu Akleh almost fell to the ground from the hands of the mourners after they were beaten with batons by the Israeli police, who arrested some of them.
On July 4, the US State Department announced the results of its investigation into the killing of Abu Akleh, and said that it could not determine who fired the bullet that killed her.
Leading American press organizations, such as CNN and the Associated Press, Washington Post and New York Times, had published their own investigations, concluding that Shireen Abu Akleh was killed by Israeli bullets, and Al Jazeera conducted an investigation that reached the same conclusion.
On June 24, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights concluded that Abu Akleh was killed by Israeli forces’ fire, while Israel ruled out that the bullet that hit her was intentional, considering that the UN investigation was “baseless.”
