JERUSALEM/RAMALLAH: Israel announced on Sunday that it would examine the bullet that killed a Palestinian-American journalist to see if one of its soldiers was responsible. A US observer would be present for the procedure, which could produce results in a matter of hours.
Israel would not participate in the ballistics, according to the Palestinians who on Saturday gave the bullet to a US security coordinator.
Washington has not yet responded. To commemorate July 4, there is a holiday weekend in the US.
A visit by US President Joe Biden that was scheduled for this month has been overshadowed by the death on May 11 of Al Jazeera reporter Shireen Abu Akleh during an Israeli raid in the occupied West Bank and disputes between the sides regarding the circumstances.
The Israeli military is accused by the Palestinians of intentionally killing her. Israel disputes this and claims that Abu Akleh may have been wounded by errant army fire or by one of the Palestinian assailants squaring off against its troops.
“The test won’t be conducted in the United States. The test will be conducted by Israel with American participation “said Brigadier-General Ran Kochav, spokesman for the Israeli military.
“We don’t have anything new at this time,” said an embassy spokesperson.
On July 13–16, Biden is anticipated to have separate meetings with the leaders of Israel and the Palestinians. The Abu Akleh case will be Yair Lapid, the new Israeli prime minister, a diplomatic and domestic test.
Lapid was involved in “managing the arrival and transfer of this bullet,” according to Yoav Segalovitz, the Israeli deputy minister of internal security.
The legal staff of Al Jazeera will compile a report on the murder of Abu Akleh for the ICC, along with outside legal experts.
The following is a statement made by Al Jazeera Media Network regarding the referral of Shireen Abu Akleh’s murder to the ICC:
The Network announced in a statement on Thursday that its legal team and international legal experts have joined forces to form an international legal coalition. The coalition is putting together a comprehensive case dossier to be delivered to the ICC Prosecutor.
The case file will contain information about Shireen Abu Akleh’s murder by the Israeli Occupation Forces outside the Jenin refugee camp in the West Bank on May 11, 2022, as well as the Israeli bombing of Al Jazeera’s Gaza office in May 2021 and its complete destruction, as well as ongoing incitements and attacks on its journalists working in the occupied Palestinian territories.
Targeting war correspondents or journalists who work in conflict areas or occupied territories and killing or physically harming them is considered a war crime, according to Article 8 of the International Criminal Court’s Charter.
Shireen Abu Akleh’s murder is condemned by Al Jazeera Media Network.who worked with the Network for 25 years as a professional journalist covering the ongoing conflict in the occupied Palestinian territories. The Network vows to follow every path to achieve justice for Shireen, and ensure those responsible for her killing are brought to justice and held accountable in all international justice and legal platforms and courts.
