Al Jazeera accuses Israel of'systematic' campaign to kill journalist

The case of the slain journalist Shireen Abu Akleh was brought to the International Criminal Court on Tuesday, and the veteran reporter was deliberately killed by Israeli forces.

The Qatar-based television channel said it had unearthed new evidence on the brutal death of the Palestinian-American, shot while covering an Israeli army raid in Jenin in the occupied West Bank on May 11.

Any person or group can file a complaint with the ICC prosecutor for an investigation, but the Hague-based court is not obliged to take them on.

My family still doesn't know who fired the deadly bullet and who was in the chain of command that killed my aunt, her niece Lina Abu Akleh told a press conference in The Hague.

The evidence is overwhelmingly clear, and we expect the ICC to take action, she said. She added that they had asked for a meeting with the prosecutor Karim Khan.

An AFP journalist saw a lawyer representing Al Jazeera's case entering the ICC's headquarters to hand over their submission.

The ICC, which was set up in 2002 as a war crimes court of last resort, launched a probe last year in the Palestinian territories.

Israel is not an ICC member and disputes the court's jurisdiction.

Israel wouldn't cooperate with any external investigation into Abu Akleh's death.

No one will investigate IDF Israeli military soldiers and no one will preach to us about morals in warfare, certainly not Al Jazeera, Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid said in a statement.

The ICC prosecutor's office said it received the communication from Al Jazeera Media Network but did not comment on individual submissions.

Any individual or group may send information on alleged crimes to the ICC Prosecutor, who is duty bound to protect the confidentiality of the information received, his office said in a statement to AFP.

A veteran reporter, who was a Christian, was wearing a bulletproof vest marked Press and a helmet when she was shot in the head in the Jenin refugee camp, a historic flashpoint in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

On Sep 5th, the Israeli army admitted that one of its soldiers had probably shot Abu Akleh after mistaking her for a militant.

Al Jazeera submitted new evidence and video footage showing Israeli forces fired directly at the journalist and her colleagues.

It said in a statement that this deliberate killing was part of a wider campaign to target and silence Al Jazeera.

The new evidence showed that there was no firing in the area except by Israeli soldiers, and that journalists were in full view and walking slowly down an empty road with distinctive media vests, said the channel.

The claim by the Israeli authorities that Shireen was killed by mistake in an exchange of fire is unfounded, it added.

He alleged that her killing was part of a systematic and widespread campaign against Al Jazeera by Israel, which included the bombing of a Gaza building housing Al Jazeera's office and the bureau of the US news agency, the Associated Press last year.

Dixon told the press conference that there was a clear attempt to shut down Al Jazeera.

We are hopeful that there will be justice for Shireen. The ICC prosecutor decides what cases to submit to judges at the court after receiving complaints from individuals or groups.

The judge decides whether to allow a preliminary investigation by the prosecutor, which can then be followed by a formal investigation, and if warranted, charges.

According to the ICC, complaints do not lead to investigations in the majority of cases.