PA Goes to Hague Over Journalist’s Death

By Hamodia Staff

YERUSHALAYIM – The Palestinian Authority has taken the case of Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh’s death to the International Criminal Court in the Hague, according to media reports on Monday.

Abu Akleh was killed as she was covering a gunfight between Israeli forces and Palestinian terrorists in Jenin on May 11. Palestinian officials have claimed that Israel “assassinated” her. Israel has said that the matter will likely remain unresolved until the PA shares its evidence, in the bullet that killed her, for expert examination.

The IDF’s military advocate general Gen. Yifat Tomer-Yerushalmi told the Israel Bar Association’s annual conference in Eilat on Monday that “at this stage, it is unclear which side fired the round that struck the journalist.”

“The best way to determine how the journalist died is to check the bullet that was found in her body through a professional ballistic investigation,” she said.

Defense Ministry Benny Gantz, who has held a series of meetings with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas to strengthen the PA economically, said on Sunday that referring the case to the ICC would damage ties between Yerushalayim and Ramallah.

Tomer-Yerushalmi also said a formal investigation is opened by her office only when there is suspicion of a crime having been committed, and the death of a noncombatant, however regrettable, in and of itself is not reason enough to automatically suspect a crime.

“A final decision will be made at the end of the military inquiry,” she said.