MADRID, 27 May. (EUROPA PRESS) –
Al Jazeera has assigned a legal team to refer the case of Palestinian-American journalist Shirin abu Akle, who died on May 11 after being shot in the head, to the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague.
The chain has said that it has formed an international coalition and is preparing a file to present to the prosecutor, since “the murder or physical aggression against journalists” is a “war crime”, according to article 8 of the ICC letter.
The Palestinian Authority has also referred to the ICC a series of alleged crimes committed by Israel and, in particular, that of the Al Jazeera journalist, who died after being shot in the head as part of an operation by Israeli security forces in the West Bank city of Jenin.
In fact, the Palestinian attorney general, Akram al Jatib, has detailed this Thursday in a report that Abu Aklé was hit by a bullet when she tried to take cover and that the shots against the journalist were direct and deliberate, according to the Palestinian news agency. WAFA news.
In addition, he explained that the projectile is of a model usually used by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), who, according to the report, would have started firing at a distance of just over 170 meters and “without prior notice”.
Thus, Al Jatib has highlighted that the remains of numerous projectiles at the site of Abu Aklé’s death also confirm that the members of the Israeli security forces had the intention of killing and that they even fired at those who came to the aid of the journalist.
Therefore, for the Palestinian attorney general, the evidence confirms that there were no armed clashes in the area, which would show evidence that the murder of Abu Aklé is a war crime committed by Israeli forces.
On the other hand, the Palestinian ambassador to the United Nations, Riyad Mansur, said this Thursday at a meeting of the UN Security Council that the murder of the journalist “was not a mistake.” “We are not being killed by mistake, but as part of a grand design to make sure we all understand that no one is safe,” he said.
For his part, the UN envoy for the peace process in the Middle East, Tor Wennesland, has pointed out that “his death united the Palestinians and countless people around the world with pain and anger, at the same time that he served as another reminder of the devastating human cost of this conflict.
Wennesland has indicated to the Security Council that, during his reporting period, ten Palestinians, including a woman and three children, “have been killed by the Israeli security forces (ISF) during demonstrations, clashes, search operations and arrest, attacks and alleged attacks against Israelis and other incidents”.
It has also counted 346 Palestinians, including five children, as injured. “Israeli settlers and other civilians carried out 57 attacks against Palestinians resulting in the death of one Palestinian child and 24 injuries and/or damage to Palestinian property,” she added.
Furthermore, he stressed that “four Israeli civilians and one Israeli security personnel were killed and 22 civilians were injured, including five women and three children, and 20 ISF were injured by Palestinians in shooting and stabbing attacks, clashes, throwing of stones or Molotov cocktails”.
Wennesland has finally indicated, during the meeting, in a United Nations statement, that the Palestinians perpetrated a total of “80 attacks against Israeli civilians that caused injuries and/or damage to Israeli properties.”