Jerusalem
CNN
—
Al Jazeera has submitted a case to the International Criminal Court (ICC) over the killing of journalist Shireen Abu Akleh, who was shot within the head whereas overlaying an Israeli raid in Jenin within the occupied West Bank in May.
“Al Jazeera’s legal team has conducted a full and detailed investigation into the case and unearthed new evidence based on several eyewitness accounts, the examination of multiple items of video footage, and forensic evidence pertaining to the case,” Al Jazeera mentioned in an announcement Tuesday.
The community claims new proof and video present the Palestinian-American journalist and her colleagues have been straight fired at in a “deliberate killing” by what Al Jazeera referred to as Israeli occupation forces, a declare which Israel has repeatedly denied.
Israel’s Prime Minister Yair Lapid Tuesday repeated a long-standing rejection that any exterior authority would examine Israel Defense Forces troops.
“No one will investigate IDF soldiers and no one will preach to us about morals in warfare, certainly not Al Jazeera,” Lapid mentioned.
The IDF referred CNN questions concerning the ICC case to the Prime Minister’s Office and Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which declined to remark.
The ICC confirmed Tuesday that it had obtained a submission from Al Jazeera.
“Under article 15 of the Rome Statute any individual or group may send information (communications) on alleged crimes to the ICC Prosecutor, who is duty bound to protect the confidentiality of the information received,” the prosecutor’s workplace informed CNN by way of e-mail.
In September, the IDF admitted there’s a “high possibility” Abu Akleh was “accidentally” shot and killed by Israeli fireplace aimed toward “suspects identified as armed Palestinian gunmen during an exchange of fire.”
The IDF mentioned on the time the Israeli army didn’t intend to pursue felony costs or prosecutions of any of the troopers concerned.
A CNN investigation revealed two weeks after Abu Akleh was killed advised that the deadly shot got here from a place the place IDF troops are identified to have been positioned. The sample of gunfire on a tree behind the place she was standing on the time advised that the gunfire was focused quite than indiscriminate, an knowledgeable informed CNN.
The CNN investigation unearthed proof — together with two movies of the scene of the taking pictures — suggesting that there was no energetic fight, nor any Palestinian militants, close to Abu Akleh within the moments main as much as her demise.
She was sporting a flak jacket figuring out her as press on the time she was killed.
Al Jazeera mentioned Tuesday: “The claim by the Israeli authorities that Shireen was killed by mistake in an exchange of fire is completely unfounded. The evidence presented to the Office of the Prosecutor (OTP) confirms, without any doubt, that there was no firing in the area where Shireen was, other than the IOF (Israeli Occupation Forces) shooting directly at her.”
“The IOF inquiry that found there was no suspicion of any crime being committed is entirely undermined by the available evidence which has now been provided to the OTP. The evidence shows that this deliberate killing was part of a wider campaign to target and silence Al Jazeera,” the community added.
Abu Akleh’s household additionally submitted an official grievance to the ICC earlier this yr to demand justice for her demise, Al Jazeera reported.