Palestinian Prosecutor General Says Shireen Abu Akleh Was Hit By A Steel-piercing Bullet, The Case Is Brought To The International Court

JAKARTA - Al Jazeera Media Network has 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.

In addition to the killing of Abu Akleh, who was shot dead by Israeli forces on May 11 near the Jenin refugee camp in the occupied West Bank, the ICC submission would also include the Israeli bombing and complete destruction of Al Jazeera's Gaza office by May 2021. As well as incitement and ongoing attacks against Al Jazeera journalist working in the occupied Palestinian territories.

Al Jazeera said in a statement that the killing or physical attack on journalists working in war zones or occupied territories is a war crime under Article 8 of the International Criminal Court charter.

"The Al Jazeera Media Network condemns the killing of our colleague Shireen Abu Akleh, who worked with the Network for 25 years as a professional journalist covering the ongoing conflict in the occupied Palestinian territories," the network said in a statement, quoted by Al Jazeera May 27.

"The network vows to follow every avenue to achieve justice for Shireen, and ensure those responsible for her murder are brought to justice, held accountable across all international justice and legal platforms and trials," the statement continued.

Earlier on Thursday, the Palestinian Authority announced the results of an investigation into the killing of Palestinian-American Abu Akleh which showed Israeli forces deliberately shot and killed the veteran journalist.

Speaking to reporters in the occupied West Bank city of Ramallah, Palestinian Attorney General Akram al-Khatib said Abu Akleh, 51, was hit by a steel-piercing bullet.

The journalist was wearing a helmet and vest clearly marked with the word 'PRESS', the attorney general said, and the Israeli occupation forces had fired a bullet that hit journalist Shireen Abu Akleh directly in the head as he tried to flee.

Separately, Riyad Mansour, Palestine's ambassador to the United Nations, told a UN Security Council meeting on Thursday that the killing of Abu Akleh was "not a mistake".

"Shireen's murder is the story, the same story she told. The difference is that this time the world knows the victims," said Mansour.

“We were killed not because of what we did, but because of who we were. We weren't killed by mistake, but as part of a grand design to ensure we all understand no one is safe so we all live with fear in our hearts and surrender."