Israeli leader accuses Al Jazeera of ‘antisemitism’ after network files ICC lawsuit over Shireen Abu Akleh death

Jerusalem: Hours after Al Jazeera submitted a request to the International Criminal Court (ICC) over the killing of its journalist Shireen Abu Akleh, Israel’s far-right leader Itamar Ben-Gvir accused the network of spreading “false propaganda” against Israel.

Calling for the expulsion of Al Jazeera reporters from Israel, the leader tweeted, “Al Jazeera is an anti-Semitic and false propaganda network that works against the State of Israel in the world. They should be expelled from the country today and the anti-Israeli campaign of lies should be stopped from within Israel.”

Echoing Gvir’s comments, Israel’s Finance Minister Avigdor Lieberman said that the licence of Al Jazeera reporters must be withdrawn. “I expect the government press office to revoke the journalists’ credentials of Al Jazeera reporters who are in Israel,” he said.

New evidence in Al Jazeera’s journalist killing

On Tuesday, Al Jazeera Media Networks submitted a request to the ICC over the killing of Shireen Abu Akleh. She spent 25 years of her career at the organisation.

Akleh was killed on 11 May this year during an Israeli Army raid in West Bank.

The network said in its official statement, “We will today (6 December) submit the case of Shireen Abu Akleh’s killing by Israeli Occupation Forces to the International Criminal Court in The Hague.”

“The submission comes six months after the brutal killing of Shireen Abu Akleh during which time Al Jazeera’s legal team has conducted a full and detailed investigation into the case and unearthed new evidence based on several eyewitness accounts, the examination of multiple items of video footage and forensic evidence pertaining to the case,” the statement added.

At the time of her death, Israeli forces had admitted that one of its soldiers might have shot Akleh but maintained that it was unintentional. However, Al Jazeera claimed that it had collected evidence to prove that the killing was deliberate.

In September, Shireen’s family approached the ICC to officially lodge a complaint against her death.

The TV correspondent was covering an Israeli military raid that was being carried out in a refugee camp in Jenin, a Palestinian city located in the north of the West Bank.

Referring to the attack on Al Jazeera’s Gaza office last year, the network’s lawyer Rodney Dixon KC said, “In the context of a wider attack on Al Jazeera, and journalists in Palestine.”

US opposes move

The US State Department has rejected Al Jazeera’s move to refer to the ICC. State Department spokesperson Ned Price told reporters, “We oppose it in this case”.

Price added that the ICC should focus on its mission rather than investigating the matter. “The ICC should focus on its core mission. And that core mission is of serving as a court of last resort in punishing and deterring atrocity crimes,” he said.

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