Official: Israeli murder of Palestinian journalist not isolated

"It's time for Israeli officials to be held accountable. It's time to end the impunity that Israel enjoys all the time," Mustafa Barghouti, a member of Palestine Liberation Organization's Central Council said.

The comments came hours after Shereen Abu Akleh, 51, was shot in the head when she was covering an Israeli military raid on the Jenin refugee camp in the northern part of the West Bank.

Iran, together with the resistance groups from Palestine and Lebanon, has strongly condemned the murder, calling it “an attack targeting truth.”

"It's time for justice in Palestine; not only for Shereen Abu Akleh, but for the 100,000 Palestinians, who have been killed by Israel since 1948," Barghouti said.

The Israeli regime has traditionally avoided punishment and accountability for its decades-long unfaltering protection provided to it by the United States -Tel Aviv's biggest and oldest ally- and other mainly Western countries.

"What we insist on is accountability. And we insist that the world community stop its system of double standards and eliminate the situation, where Israel is not held accountable for its crimes," the Palestinian official asserted.

He said Abu Akleh's assassination was not an isolated case, adding, "It's the systematic oppression of Palestinian journalists".

Richard Becker, from the Act Now to Stop War and End Racism (ANSWER) Coalition, from San Franciso, ruled out the possibility that Abu Akleh's murder might have taken place accidentally.

"These are not random shots. These are sniper assassinations," he said.

He reminded that the Israeli regime's existence "has been based on the policy of granting to the military and to the settlers in the West Bank, the so-called right to carry out unlimited violence against the Palestinian population."

Becker, however, regretted that the Israeli regime is trying to "cover this up as they've covered up so much else. And the US will support them in covering it up."