229 Rights Groups: “Israel” must Be Held Accountable for Premeditated Assassination of Palestinian Journalist

The Palestinian Ma’an news agency said the 229 signatories affirmed in a statement that the “Israeli” occupation forces’ targeting of the Palestinian journalist was a “deliberate and premeditated act and a full-fledged assassination operation.”

“Martyr Shireen Abu Akleh is a direct victim of organized terrorism [by 'Israel'], which behaves with the mentality of criminal gangs,” the signatories stressed.

The statement said the killing was a result of systematic incitement against Palestinian journalists by the occupying regime for their professional role in revealing the truth and exposing the “Israeli” entity’s crimes.

It further criticized the international community’s silence over atrocities committed by “Israeli” troops against Palestinians, saying it exposes their double standards.

“The ‘Israeli’ occupation forces, with their heinous act, want to obscure the truth and cover up their horrendous crimes against the sons and daughters of the Palestinian people. Moreover, the regime, with its heinous act, wants to scare and intimidate journalists to prevent the conveyance of the truth to the world,” the signatories underlined.

The statement also called for the opening of a “neutral, independent and transparent” international investigation into the “Israeli” targeting the Palestinian journalist under the supervision of the International Criminal Court [ICC].

The signatories stressed the need to launch an international campaign by the Palestinian Journalists Syndicate, the International Federation of Journalists, international nongovernmental organizations, and Palestinian human rights institutions to hold “Israeli” war criminals accountable, prevent impunity for the perpetrators, and bring a legal human rights case at the ICC to prosecute “Israeli” leaders and politicians, who publicly incite the killing of Palestinian civilians, including journalists.

Shireen Abu Akleh, a longtime TV correspondent for Al Jazeera Arabic, was martyred on Wednesday after being shot in the head while covering the “Israeli” army’s raids in the city of Jenin in the northern occupied West Bank.