1 of 3 | A shop sells images of the late Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh in the central West Bank town of Bethlehem on July 12. Al Jazeera called on the International Criminal Court to investigate on Tuesday. File Photo by Debbie Hill/UPI |
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Dec. 6 (UPI) -- The Al Jazeera Media Network said it officially filed a request to the International Criminal Court to conduct an investigation and prosecution of those responsible for the death of its journalist Shireen Abu Akleh in the occupied West Bank on May 11.
Abu Akleh, a veteran Palestinian-American journalist, was covering an Israeli military raid on a refugee camp in Jenin when she was killed by gunfire. Israeli and United Nations investigations concluded that the bullets likely came from Israeli military gunfire, yet no one has been held accountable.
Al Jazeera cited its own six-month investigation into the shooting death, which included eyewitness testimony and video footage.
"It's not a single incident, it's a killing that is part of a wider pattern that the prosecution should be investigating to identify those who are responsible for the killing, and to bring charges against them," Rodney Dixon, an attorney for Al Jazeera said.
Abu Akleh had worked as a correspondent for Al Jazeera for 25 years and was widely known and respected in the region. She was wearing clothing identifying her as a journalist when she was shot and killed.
Al Jazeera said while the filing is primarily about the death of Abu Akleh, it also references the Israeli bombing of Al Jazeera's offices in Gaza in May 2021. The Israeli military claimed that Hamas militants had used part of the building as a shield to protect itself from being fired upon.
Current Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid and Defense Minister Benny Gantz pushed back against the filing, calling the shooting a "wartime event" that was "investigated in the deepest and most thorough way."
"There is no army that acts as morally in wartime as the [Israel Defense Forces] and I want to emphasize my and the entire system's full backing for the commanders and soldiers who defend the citizens of Israel," Gantz said.
