JERUSALEM: Al Jazeera news network says it will go to the International Criminal Court (ICC) for the murder of journalist Shirin Abu Akleh. It is noteworthy that earlier this month Shirin was shot dead during his (Israel) raid in the West Bank area controlled by Israel. This news network of Qatar and the Palestinian administration allege that Israeli soldiers intentionally killed the journalist. At the same time, Israel is dismissing these allegations as ‘white lies’.
Israel says the journalist has been shot during a shootout between soldiers and Palestinian militants and only a ballistic analysis of the bullet can tell whose bullet killed the journalist. Ballistic analysis is to be done by the Palestinian Administration. A dramatic adaptation of the incident was carried out by the Associate Press (AP) with eyewitnesses found to be correct in saying the Palestinian-American journalist was shot by Israeli soldiers, but any final decision will be based on evidence. No evidence is available in this regard so far.
Al Jazeera said late Thursday that it has formed an international legal team to prepare a dossier on the case and hand it over to the ICC. The ICC has been investigating possible Israeli war crimes since last year. Israel, however, is not a member of the ICC and has dismissed the investigation as discriminatory against itself.
Al Jazeera says its dossier will also include a report on the bombing of its Gaza City office during last year’s war between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas. It is noteworthy that Israel has said that Hamas militants also had a part in the building where Al Jazeera’s office was, but it has not given any evidence in this regard. The Associate Press (AP) also had its office in the same building.
