Network to send file on killing to court
JERUSALEM — 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 only ballistic analysis of the bullet — which is held by the authority — can determine who fired the fatal shot.
Al Jazeera said late Thursday it has formed an international legal team to prepare a case dossier to be submitted to the court. It 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.
“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.
Israel says it cannot determine whether Palestinian militants or its own soldiers fired the fatal shot unless the Palestinian Authority hands over the bullet that killed Abu Akleh for ballistic analysis. The Palestinian Authority has refused to cooperate with Israel in any way, saying it doesn’t trust Israel to investigate itself.
The Palestinian Authority 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 Defense 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.