By Associated Press
May 29, 2022
The Al Jazeera news network says it will submit a case file to the International Criminal Court on the killing of reporter Shireen Abu Akleh, who was shot dead earlier this month during an Israeli raid in the occupied West Bank.
The Al Jazeera news network says it will submit a case file to the International Criminal Court on the killing of reporter Shireen Abu Akleh, who was shot dead earlier this month during an Israeli raid in the occupied West Bank.
The Qatar-based network and the Palestinian Authority have accused Israeli soldiers of deliberately killing her.
Israel rejects those allegations as a “blatant lie." It says she was shot during a firefight between soldiers and Palestinian militants, and that only ballistic analysis of the bullet - which is held by the PA - can determine who fired the fatal shot.
An AP reconstruction lent support to witnesses who say the veteran Palestinian-American correspondent was killed by Israeli fire, but any final conclusion may depend on evidence that has not yet been released.
Palestinians visit the site where veteran Palestinian-American reporter Shireen Abu Akleh was shot and killed, in the West Bank city of Jenin, May 18, 2022. The Al Jazeera news network says it will submit a case file to the International Criminal Court on the killing of reporter Shireen Abu Akleh, who was shot dead earlier this month during an Israeli raid in the occupied West Bank. (AP Photo/Majdi Mohammed, File) (AP)
Al Jazeera said late Thursday it has formed an international legal team to prepare a case dossier to be submitted to the ICC. The court launched an investigation into possible Israeli war crimes last year. Israel is not a member of the ICC and has rejected the probe as being biased against it.
Al Jazeera said the case file would also include the Israeli bombing of the building housing its offices in Gaza City during last year's war between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas, “as well as the continuous incitements and attacks on its journalists operating in the occupied Palestinian territories.”
Israel said the building - which also housed the Gaza office of The Associated Press - contained Hamas military infrastructure, but has not provided any evidence. The AP was not aware of any purported Hamas presence in the building and condemned the strike as “shocking and horrifying.” No one was hurt in the strike, which came after an Israeli warning to evacuate.
“The Network vows to follow every path to achieve justice for Shireen, and ensure those responsible for her killing are brought to justice and held accountable in all international justice and legal platforms and courts,” Al Jazeera said.
Al-Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh was shot and killed while covering an Israeli raid in the occupied West Bank town of Jenin early Wednesday. (Twitter)
Israel says it cannot determine whether Palestinian militants or its own soldiers fired the fatal shot unless the PA hands over the bullet that killed Abu Akleh for ballistic analysis. The PA has refused to cooperate with Israel in any way, saying it doesn't trust Israel to investigate itself.
The PA announced the results of its own probe on Thursday, saying Abu Akleh was deliberately killed by Israeli forces and that there were no militants in the area. Israeli Defence Minister Benny Gantz rejected the findings, saying “any claim that the IDF intentionally harms journalists or uninvolved civilians is a blatant lie,” referring to the Israeli military.
Palestinian Attorney General Akram Al Khateeb, in announcing the results of the probe, said the bullet that killed her was an armor-piercing 5.56 mm NATO round and that it appeared to have been fired by a Ruger Mini-14 semiautomatic rifle.
The Israeli military declined to comment on whether the gun described by the Palestinians matches one the military has previously identified as having possibly fired the fatal shot. It also declined to say whether the army uses the Ruger Mini-14 or whether any were in use during the May 11 raid in which Abu Akleh was killed, in the West Bank town of Jenin.
Israel has publicly called for a joint investigation with the PA, with the participation of the US The State Department said this week that neither Israel nor the PA have formally requested its assistance. Each side is in sole possession of potentially crucial evidence, and neither is likely to accept any conclusions reached by the other.
Israel claims no Israeli soldier 'deliberately' shot at Shireen Abu Akleh after internal investigation
The New Arab Staff
28 May, 2022
Israel's military and leaders initially said it was 'likely' that Shireen Abu Akleh, a veteran reporter for Al Jazeera, was killed by Palestinian gunmen.
Israeli military chief Aviv Kochavi on Friday shared results of an internal investigation into Shireen Abu Akleh's killing [AFP via Getty]
Israel's military has claimed that an internal investigation has found that no Israeli soldier deliberately fired the shot that killed Palestinian journalist Shireen Abu Akleh earlier this month.
The claim - which contradicts eyewitness accounts, a probe by the Palestinian Authority, and journalistic investigations - was made in a video statement posted by the Israeli military to Twitter on Friday evening.
"No IDF soldier deliberately fired at a journalist. We investigated this. That is the conclusion, and there is no other," Israeli military chief Aviv Kochavi said in the statement.
Abu Akleh was shot dead on 11 May while reporting on an Israeli military raid on the Jenin refugee camp, in the occupied West Bank.
Israel's military and leaders initially claimed that Abu Akleh, a veteran reporter for Al Jazeera, was killed by Palestinian gunmen. They soon backtracked on that claim, instead saying that they could not conclusively determine whose gunfire killed the veteran US-Palestinian journalist.
Shortly after the killing, Israel had asked for the Palestinian Authority to hand over the bullet removed from Abu Akleh's body to conduct a forensic examination.
The PA denied Israel's request for the bullet, saying it did not trust Israel would conduct a fair investigation after it had spread "false narratives" over Abu Akleh's killing.
Israel also offered that Palestinian and US officials could be present during the examination.
However, this week, State Department spokesman Ned Price said he was “not aware of any request for assistance” from either side. And when asked during a press briefing Wednesday — two weeks after Abu Akleh’s death — if the US had been asked to participate or act as an observer, he stood by his previous answer.
The New Arab Staff
28 May, 2022
Israel's military and leaders initially said it was 'likely' that Shireen Abu Akleh, a veteran reporter for Al Jazeera, was killed by Palestinian gunmen.
Israeli military chief Aviv Kochavi on Friday shared results of an internal investigation into Shireen Abu Akleh's killing [AFP via Getty]
Israel's military has claimed that an internal investigation has found that no Israeli soldier deliberately fired the shot that killed Palestinian journalist Shireen Abu Akleh earlier this month.
The claim - which contradicts eyewitness accounts, a probe by the Palestinian Authority, and journalistic investigations - was made in a video statement posted by the Israeli military to Twitter on Friday evening.
"No IDF soldier deliberately fired at a journalist. We investigated this. That is the conclusion, and there is no other," Israeli military chief Aviv Kochavi said in the statement.
Abu Akleh was shot dead on 11 May while reporting on an Israeli military raid on the Jenin refugee camp, in the occupied West Bank.
Israel's military and leaders initially claimed that Abu Akleh, a veteran reporter for Al Jazeera, was killed by Palestinian gunmen. They soon backtracked on that claim, instead saying that they could not conclusively determine whose gunfire killed the veteran US-Palestinian journalist.
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Shortly after the killing, Israel had asked for the Palestinian Authority to hand over the bullet removed from Abu Akleh's body to conduct a forensic examination.
The PA denied Israel's request for the bullet, saying it did not trust Israel would conduct a fair investigation after it had spread "false narratives" over Abu Akleh's killing.
Israel also offered that Palestinian and US officials could be present during the examination.
However, this week, State Department spokesman Ned Price said he was “not aware of any request for assistance” from either side. And when asked during a press briefing Wednesday — two weeks after Abu Akleh’s death — if the US had been asked to participate or act as an observer, he stood by his previous answer.
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