US opposes move to refer Shireen Abu Akleh’s case to ICC

Washington announced its opposition to Al Jazeera’s decision to refer the case of the murder of Palestinian-American journalist, Shireen Abu Akleh, to the International Criminal Court (ICC).

The US State department announced its opposition to the investigations affecting Israel, with US State department spokesman, Ned Price, saying: “We maintain our longstanding objections to the ICC’s investigation into the Palestinian situation.” When asked about Al Jazeera’s request to the court, he continued: “We oppose it in this case.”

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“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,” said Price.

The lawsuit at the ICC includes “new witness evidence and video footage that clearly show that Abu Akleh and her colleagues were directly fired at by Israeli Occupation Forces,” Al Jazeera said yesterday. “The evidence presented to the Office of the Prosecutor confirms, without any doubt, that there was no firing in the area where Shireen was, other than the IOF shooting directly at her.”

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