Human Rights Watch Urges Lebanon to Join ICC to Prosecute Israel for Killing Journalist

JAKARTA - Human Rights Watch (HRW) has called on Lebanon to join the International Criminal Court (ICC) to fight for justice for the loss of life of journalists due to Israeli attacks.

"The Lebanese government must join the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court to allow accountability for serious international crimes," HRW said in a social media post, quoted by Al Jazeera, Friday, April 24.

HRW's call to Lebanon comes two days after Israeli forces killed Lebanese journalist Amal Khalil and wounded her colleague Zainab Faraj in an airstrike in the village of al-Tayri in southern Lebanon.

Lebanese Prime Minister Joseph Aoun condemned Israel for the attack. Aoun accused Israel of committing a crime against humanity.

Previously, the Lebanese government planned to accept the ICC's jurisdiction in April 2024 to investigate potential war crimes committed by Israel in its territory.

However, instead of conducting an investigation with the ICC's jurisdiction, the Lebanese Government simply revoked the decision, which means that the court currently has no jurisdiction over crimes committed in Lebanon.

Amal Khalil is the ninth journalist to be killed in Lebanon this year.