Al-Jazeera Sues Israel Over Murder of Palestinian Journalist

On Tuesday, the Qatari news channel Al Jazeera submitted a formal request to the International Criminal Court (ICC) to investigate and prosecute those responsible for the murder of Palestinian journalist Shireen Abu Akleh.

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Abu Akleh, who was a correspondent for Al Jazeera for 25 years, was killed by Israeli occupation forces on May 11 while she was covering an Israeli military raid on a refugee camp in Jenin, in the West Bank.

The request submitted to the ICC includes the results of a comprehensive six-month investigation by Al-Jazeeraa, which brings together all available evidence provided by eyewitnesses and video footage into the murder of Abu Akleh.

"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 Israeli occupation forces shooting directly at her," Al-Jazeera recalled.

"The journalists were in full view of the Israeli occupation forces as they walked as a group slowly down the road with their distinctive media vests, and there were no other persons in the road," it added. 

In reaction to the lawsuit submitted to the Hague Court, Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid said that "no one will investigate the Israeli soldiers and no one will preach to us about morals in warfare, certainly not Al-Jazeera."

A similar high-handed response was leveled by Israeli far-right Otzma Yehudit Party leader Itamar Ben Gvir, who called for Al-Jazeera to be expelled from Israel, as reported by Quds News Network.