RAMALLAH, The State of Palestine condemned in the strongest terms Israel’s violent assassination and deliberate targeting earlier today of Al-Jazeera’s veteran journalist, Shireen Abu Akleh, in Jenin refugee camp, according to a Foreign Ministry press release.

Israeli occupying forces shot Shireen Abu Akleh in the head. She was murdered while reporting Israel’s crimes. She was wearing her PRESS vest, it said. “Today the voice of Palestine was killed, but the echo is eternal. “

The Foreign Ministry said for decades, Abu Akleh courageously exposed Israel’s crimes against the Palestinian people. “With her fearless reporting and her powerful persistence, Shireen became an icon of the truth. A national hero for those whose voices were silenced by Israel’s crimes,” it said.

“Israel’s assassination of Shireen is part of its well-documented and widely acknowledged war and incitement against Palestinian journalists and the freedom of expression and the press. Israel and its officials, openly and publicly, reward their soldiers for the killing of Palestinians, including journalists, with full impunity and an emboldened sense of immunity,” said the Foreign Ministry.

Shireen Abu Akleh is another victim of the international community’s willful inaction to hold Israel accountable for its continued crimes. “Israel’s war crimes and terrorism must stop. Allowing Israel’s atrocious assassinations of Palestinian journalists to pass unchecked is to sanction the killing of journalists,” it said.

“The State of Palestine calls on the journalists worldwide to expose Israel’s crimes, including crimes against journalists. The Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court must immediately and urgently open an investigation into Israel’s crimes against journalists and media personnel. Likewise, the Security Council of the United Nations must assume its responsibility and ensure the protection of the Palestinian people, in accordance with United Nations resolutions.”

The ministry concluded: “As we mourn this devastating national tragedy, we salute our journalists and media personnel for their bravery and persistence in relaying to the world the truth about what is happening in Palestine in spite of targeting them by Israel’s brutal, settler, and racist regime.”

Source: Palestine News & Info Agency