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The International Federation of Journalists says it will be a partner in the lawsuit against Israel at the International Criminal Court (ICC) following the murder in May of veteran journalist Shireen Abu Akleh by the regime troops in Jenin.
Ali Youssef, a member of the executive board of the syndicate, made the announcement during an interview with a local channel on Sunday, the official Palestinian news agency Wafa reported.
“Palestinian journalists are fighters who face on a daily basis the aggression of the occupation in all fields as well as the main project of the occupation to expel the Palestinians from their land.”
Elsewhere in his remarks, Youssef said the syndicate has succeeded in exposing Israel’s acts of aggression against media professionals and the Palestinian people.
The attorney general of the Palestinian Authority (PA) has confirmed that an Israeli soldier is behind the killing of Abu Akleh.
Last month, Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad al-Maliki handed the ICC’s prosecutor the official outcome of the Palestinian investigation into Israel’s murder of Abu Akleh.
During a meeting in The Hague with ICC Public Prosecutor Karim Khan on June 9, Maliki demanded that the criminals responsible for targeting civilians, children, women, journalists, doctors, and other protected groups be brought to international justice.
Abu Akleh was shot in the head on May 11, while she was standing with a group of journalists near the entrance to the Jenin refugee camp, reporting on an Israeli raid on the place. Her tragic death sent shock waves across the region, drawing global condemnation. The United Nations and the European Union, among others, called for a full investigation into what has been described as a deliberate murder “in cold blood.”
More than 50 US lawmakers have so far called for an investigation into the crime as Israel is refusing to launch a probe.
Over 100 leading artists from across the world have also condemned Israel’s killing of Abu Akleh, demanding accountability for the regime’s crimes.
The ICC has already opened an investigation into possible war crimes by Israel in both the occupied West Bank and the besieged Gaza Strip. However, Israel does not recognize the court’s jurisdiction and has called the war crimes probe unfair and anti-Semitic.
