The Al Jazeera Arabic cameraman was killed by a drone assault whereas reporting on the bombing of a faculty in southern Gaza Strip.
The Al Jazeera Media Community says it is going to refer the killing of its cameraman Samer Abudaqa in Gaza to the Worldwide Legal Courtroom (ICC).
In a press release on Saturday, the Qatar-based community stated it has instructed its authorized staff to “urgently” refer the case of what it known as “the assassination” of Al Jazeera Arabic cameraman Samer Abudaqa to the courtroom in The Hague.
Abudaqa was killed by a drone attack on Friday whereas reporting on an earlier bombing of a faculty used as a shelter for displaced individuals in Khan Younis within the southern Gaza Strip.
“Al Jazeera Media Community reiterates its denunciation and condemnation of the assassination crime of its colleague, Samer Abudaqa, who devoted 19 years with the Community to protecting the continued battle within the occupied Palestinian territories,” stated the community’s assertion.
“Along with the assassination of Abudaqa by the Israeli occupation forces within the Gaza Strip, the authorized file may even embody recurrent assaults on the Community’s crews working and working within the occupied Palestinian territories and situations of incitement towards them.”
Focusing on journalists is a warfare crime beneath Article 8 of the Rome Statute.
The media community stated it has arrange a working group comprising its worldwide authorized staff and worldwide authorized consultants to submit a file to the courtroom’s prosecutor.
Al Jazeera Arabic correspondent Wael Dahdouh – who misplaced his spouse, son, daughter and grandson in a previous Israeli bombing – was wounded in the identical assault on Friday. He was hit by shrapnel on his higher arm and managed to achieve the Nasser Hospital the place he was handled for minor accidents.
However rescue groups have been unable to right away attain Abudaqa and others on the website as they wanted approval from Israeli forces to bulldoze by means of the particles to get to the placement.
By the point rescuers arrived 5 hours after the assault, Abudaqa had bled to dying.
The 45-year-old was laid to relaxation in southern Gaza on Saturday, with dozens of mourners, together with journalists, paying their respects.
“We’re carrying this human message, we’re carrying this noble message,” Dahdouh stated in his eulogy as mourners around him wept. “We are going to proceed to do our responsibility with professionalism and transparency.”
Al Jazeera had beforehand submitted a formal request to the ICC to research and prosecute these liable for capturing a veteran tv reporter Shireen Abu Akleh in Might 2022 whereas protecting an Israeli army raid on the Jenin refugee camp within the occupied West Financial institution.
Proof supplied within the request, filed in December 2022, features a complete six-month investigation by the community, gathering witness accounts and video footage, amongst different materials.
The ICC has acknowledged its receipt, but no additional steps have been taken.
The Committee to Defend Journalists (CPJ) says the continued battle in Gaza is the deadliest for journalists ever recorded, with no less than 64 reporters and media employees killed in 10 weeks of the enclave’s bombing.
The CPJ has additionally known as on the worldwide authorities to “conduct an unbiased investigation into the assault to carry the perpetrators to account”.