Shireen Abu Akleh’s killing referred to ICC

Mohammad Ayesh

Middle East Eye  /  July 1, 2022

The murder of Palestinian journalist Shireen Abu Akleh has been presented before the International Criminal Court (ICC), the Palestinian foreign ministry has said, according to an Arabi21 report.

“The case is now at the disposal of the International Criminal Court as per its procedures and executive regulations,” said Ahmed al-Deek, the political adviser to Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad al-Maliki, in an exclusive statement to the website.

The statement added that “the International Criminal Court does not work based on political decisions of states, but rather its work and actions are governed by the Rome Statute and the court’s regulations.”

Regarding the possibility of “freezing” the case of the murdered Al-Jazeera journalist, Al-Deek explained that “the Palestinian Authority is not authorised to freeze this case, because this case is now at the disposal of the Office of the Public Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court”.

The Hebrew newspaper, Israel Today, said that Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas informed ministers during his last cabinet meeting that Israel had demanded he not bring the case before the ICC.

Abu Akleh was shot and killed on 11 May 2022 by an Israeli sniper. The bullet hit her directly in the head while she was covering an Israeli army raid on Jenin refugee camp in the West Bank. She was wearing a blue jacket clearly marking her out as a member of the press.

Later, Israeli security forces attacked her funeral.