Al Jazeera taking reporter’s death to ICC

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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.

Photo by Hillel Maeir/TPS

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.

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 including 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.”

“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 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 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.

Israel has publicly called for a joint investigation with the PA, with the participation of the U.S. The State Department said this week that neither Israel nor the PA has 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.

AAP