Palestinian Attorney General Says Shireen Abu Akleh Deliberately Shot By Israeli Army: Wearing Ruger Mini-14 Weapon And 5.56 Mm Ammunition

Shireen Abu Akleh. (Twitter/@ShireenNasri)

JAKARTA - The Palestinian Authority said the results of its investigation found that Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh was deliberately shot by Israeli soldiers.

Palestinian Attorney General Akram Al-Khatib told reporters that investigations showed that none of the militants were close to Abu Akleh when he died.

"The only source of fire in the area was from the occupying forces with the intent to kill," Al-Khatib said, referring to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF).

He added that Abu Akleh, who had been wearing a helmet and vest bearing the words 'Press' which clearly marked him as a journalist, had been trying to escape with some of his fellow journalists, when the first shots were heard.

"This is a war crime," said Al-Khatib.

Al-Khatib said tests showed that the bullet that killed Abu Akleh was a 5.56mm bullet fired from the Ruger Mini-14 semi-automatic rifle, which is used by the Israeli military.

The same 5.56 caliber can also be fired from the M-16 rifle carried by many Palestinian militants. Al-Khatib did not say how he believed it came from an Israeli rifle.

The Palestinians say they do not trust Israel and have refused to carry out a joint investigation.

Earlier, media network Al Jazeera assigned a legal team to refer the murder of its journalist, Shireen Abu Akleh, to the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague, Netherlands.

The network said in a statement on Thursday it had formed an international coalition consisting of its legal team along with international experts, and was preparing the dossier for Abu Akleh's murder to be submitted to ICC prosecutors.