In April this year, there were 57 Israeli violations recorded against the press.

Qatar renewed its calls on the international community to hold Israel accountable for the killing of veteran Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh four months into the crime.

“We hope that the international community will hold the Israeli authorities accountable for the crime that they have committed,” Qatar’s Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani told Doha News in New York on Wednesday.

Sheikh Mohammed’s remarks came on the sidelines of the 77th United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York. 

On Tuesday, Qatar’s Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani slammed Israel’s fait  accompli policy and lack of efforts to push for an end to its occupation of Palestine.

“The Palestinian cause is still unresolved,  and  in  light  of  the  failure  to  implement  the  resolutions  of  international  legitimacy and with the persistent change of facts on the ground the settler  occupation  has pursued  a  fait  accompli  policy,” said Sheikh Tamim.

Israel’s crimes in Palestine were further exposed in May this year after the occupying state killed prominent Palestinian-American journalist. Qatar has since called for an investigation into the incident.

On Tuesday, a joint investigation by Forensic Architecture and Palestinian rights organisation Al-Haq revealed that the killing of Abu Akleh was deliberate.

“We’ve been following the outcome of the investigation and we have seen reports that came out last night, which are concerning,” said Sheikh Mohammed.

The investigation further countered Israel’s claim that the killing was a mistake, despite one of its occupation forces previously admitting to the crime.

The Zionist state repeatedly attempted to cover up the crime despite the numerous evidence presented by global news agencies, human rights organisations, and testimonies of witnesses who were at the crime scene.

At the time of the killing, Abu Akleh was covering another raid by occupation forces in Jenin, clad in her press vest and helmet, clearly identifying as a member of the press. 

The Israeli sniper proceeded to shoot Abu Akleh in an area exposed by the helmet she wore at the time and fired more bullets towards her direction after she was shot.

Israel also attacked Abu Akleh’s funeral, the longest Palestine has ever witnessed. Qatar strongly condemned the attacks, saying they reflect “the brutality of the Israeli apartheid regime and its disregard to all human values.”

Addressing the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos in May, Sheikh Tamim said that Israel denied Abu Akleh a dignified burial.

“[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 amir.

Meanwhile, Abu Akleh’s family continue to call on the US, Israel’s main ally, to conduct an independent investigation.

In July, the grieving family travelled to the US after President Joe Biden dodged a meeting with them during his Tel Aviv and West Bank visits. 

Abu Akleh’s family met with US State Secretary Antony Blinken instead, though the meeting yielded no progress in the case of the slain journalist.

In July, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) called on US authorities to follow up on its meeting with Abu Akleh’s family “with substantive action to investigate her death and bring those responsible to justice.”

Israel has long targeted press for their reporting on the ongoing ethnic cleansing of Palestinians.

According to the Palestinian Journalist syndicate, Israel killed more than 46 Palestinian journalists between 2000 and 2020. 

In April this year, there were 57 Israeli violations recorded against the media.