Reports by the Associated Press (AP) and CNN amplified the testimonies of witnesses at the site where the journalist was deliberately targeted.
Al Jazeera’s Washington bureau chief Abderrahim Foukara told an informal UN Security Council meeting on Tuesday to investigate the killing of the network’s journalist Shireen Abu Akleh.
“Al Jazeera’s position is crystal clear, Shireen Abu Akleh’s life matters, and so does a transparent and independent investigation of her killing and of the serious violation of her funeral by the Israeli security forces,” Foukara told the council, as quoted by the Qatar-based network.
Abu Akleh was killed on 11 May in Jenin by an Israeli sniper, who shot her while she was wearing her press flak jacket. The Zionist state was quick to claim that Palestinian militants were allegedly on site.
Israel refused to conduct a criminal investigation into the killing despite the occupation forces (IOF) soldier admitting to the crime.
Al Jazeera had previously said that Abu Akleh was deliberately targeted by the sniper, given that she was shot in a precise spot, exposed by the helmet she wore at the time.
With the Israeli court regularly backing the apartheid state‘s crimes against Palestinians, people have called for an independent investigation into the killing.
“Al Jazeera is considering all possible legal options to make sure justice is done, so that Shireen’s killing does not end up swept under the carpet of impunity,” said Foukara.
On Monday, Palestine’s foreign ministry submitted a letter to the International Criminal Court (ICC) over the ongoing crimes against Palestinians, urging an investigation into the assassination of Abu Akleh.
“As is the case with previous periodic reports, the ministry called on the ICC to adopt this report in order to expedite its investigations and bring criminals and murderers to international justice,” said the ministry in a statement.
Recent footage filmed by Al Jazeera cameraman Majdi Banura circulating on social media of the time of the incident confirmed the testimonies of witnesses, who dismissed the alleged presence of armed Palestinians.
A reconstruction by the AP and CNN report amplified the witnesses’ testimonies. Speaking to the CNN, Palestinian journalist Shatha Hanaysha, who was next to Abu Akleh during the incident, said that the IOF soldiers saw them.
“We stood in front of the Israeli military vehicles for about five to 10 minutes before we made moves to ensure they saw us. And this is a habit of ours as journalists, we move as a group and we stand in front of them so they know we are journalists, and then we start moving,” recounted Hanaysha.
The video proved that Abu Akleh was shot without any indication of crossfire. Palestinians on site were heard calling for an ambulance to come to the site while screaming the journalist’s name.
Abu Akleh is a prominent journalist that became known as the voice of Palestine, who revealed to the world the ongoing crimes committed against Palestinians under the Israeli occupation.
Speaking to the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos on Monday, Qatar’s Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani slammed double standards in addressing the killing of Abu Akleh.
“We should not accept a world where governments have double standards about the value of people based on their region, race, or religion. We consider the value, of each
European life to be just as precious as someone from our region,” said the amir.
Sheikh Tamim said her death is as horrific as the seven journalists killed in Ukraine since March and other places around the world.
“The Palestinian-American journalist was killed two weeks ago in Palestine, and then robbed, of a dignified-burial. Shireen was covering the suffering, of the Palestinian people for decades, and our hearts, are broken,” said the Qatari leader.
