The State of Palestine welcomed today the independent findings of the United Nations Human Rights Office on Israel’s targeted assassination of veteran Palestinian journalist Shireen Abu-Akleh.
“The United Nations echoes the findings of the General Prosecutor of the State of Palestine which conclusively found that Israel deliberately targeted Palestinian journalists, killing Shireen Abu-Akleh and injuring Ali Sammoudi on 11 May 2022,” said the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in a statement.
“Israel’s killing of Shireen Abu-Akleh is an established fact. The circumstances around her killing are clear,” added the statement. “Today, the United Nations Human Rights Office reaffirmed, similar to other previous investigations, including by Bellingcat, CNN, the Washington Post, Aljazeera, and New York Times, what eyewitnesses and the official Palestinian investigation concluded: an Israeli soldier deliberately and willfully killed Shireen.”
The Ministry pointed out that “Israel’s criminal policies and practices that violate international law and are intentionally designed to target civilians, killed Shireen. Israeli crimes against the Palestinian people are being caused not because of deviations from Israel’s policies but precisely because of the criminal policies themselves.”
“Justice for Shireen is not an option. Justice for Shireen is a must. Any justice that does not hold Israel’s top officials accountable for their crimes is a compromised justice. Israel’s efforts and that of its officials to absolve themselves and deflect responsibility for the assassination of Shireen is part of an institutionalized impunity and unmatched sense of entitlement that is inherent to Israel’s illegal occupation and apartheid regime.”
The statement concluded, “The State of Palestine will do right by Shireen. We expect that the world will not be satisfied with rhetoric. Now, it is time for accountability. Sympathy will not bring Shireen and thousands of other victims back, but justice will go a long way to help our nation heal. The United States also has an obligation to pursue justice for Shireen. We also expect that the ICC Prosecutor will implement his mandate professionally and independently, including his investigation into the situation in Palestine. There are no excuses for inaction.”
SOURCE: PALESTINE NEWS & INFO AGENCY