The Palestinian president has stated that the assassination of Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Aqla would be immediately reported to the International Criminal Court (ICC). Mahmoud Abbas said Israel was "totally accountable" for her killing during a mourning service attended by hundreds of Palestinians. She was shot in the occupied West Bank while covering an Israeli operation.

        According to Al Jazeera, Israeli forces murdered Abu Aqla. Israel believes she was shot by Palestinian gunmen. The UN, the US, and the European Union have all demanded an impartial and open inquiry. Abu Aqla, a 51-year-old Palestinian-American, was a veteran and well-liked journalist in the region. She has spent two decades covering the Israeli-Palestinian conflict for Al Jazeera's Arabic news program.

        Her casket was delivered to the Palestinian Authority's headquarters in Ramallah on Thursday morning, wrapped in the Palestinian flag. As the procession went through the West Bank city, crowds of mourners lined the streets. President Abbas paid homage to Abu Aqla, calling her a "freedom fighter" who "sacrificed her life" for the Palestinian cause.

        "We hold the Israeli occupation authorities completely accountable for her death, and they will not be able to hide the facts about this atrocity," he stated. He went on to say that the Palestinian Authority had turned down an Israeli offer of a joint probe "because we don't trust them" and that it would "proceed straight to the International Criminal Court to seek out the murderers."

        The ICC and the Israeli government, which does not recognize the court's jurisdiction and has refused to cooperate with an inquiry into suspected war crimes in the occupied territories, did not respond immediately. The Palestinian Authority is denying "even access to the fundamental findings that would be essential in order to establish the truth," Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said during a meeting.

        "Take no move that might hinder the probe or contaminate the investigating process," he told the PA. Shireen Abu Aqla has become a household name in the Arab world. Her calm authoritative presence filled living rooms, courtyards, and camps across the area and beyond.

        I recall seeing her amid the throngs of journalists covering a war that hardly left the front pages while I lived in Jerusalem. Her authority and calm confidence set her apart from the rest of our tribe, and her easy grin and contagious laugh drew many people to her. She was there when a story mattered. Now she isn't, and a huge portion of every story she dutifully covered will be missing for a lot of people. Trailblazer, symbol, and martyr are among the new names circulating on social media.

        But she only has one professional title: journalist, which she obtained throughout the course of her life. When Abu Aqla traveled to the Jenin refugee camp early on Wednesday to report on an Israeli military and security forces raid, she was wearing a blue flak jacket with the word "Press" prominently written on it.

        The operation was carried out, according to the Israeli military, to seize "terrorist suspects." "During the operation, dozens of Palestinian militants opened fire on the soldiers and threw explosive devices at them. The military opened fire on the gunmen, and many hits were recorded "it said. During the operation, a live bullet struck Abu Aqla in the head, according to the Palestinian health ministry. She was sent to the hospital in severe condition and subsequently died.

        Another Palestinian journalist, Ali Samoudi of Al Jazeera, was shot and injured. No Palestinian militants were close when they were hit, Samoudi told the BBC from the hospital.

        "The rounds came from the [Israeli] forces' deployment area," he explained. "Israeli officials do not want [journalists] to cover the situation in Jenin." Al Jazeera said that Israeli soldiers killed Abu Aqla "in cold blood," and demanded that they be held responsible for the "intentional targeting and execution of a journalist." "It is probable that armed Palestinians... were responsible for the terrible killing of the journalist," Mr Bennett said on Wednesday.

        Later, Defense Minister Benny Gantz informed a press conference that "the Palestinians" or "tragically, our side" may have shot her. "Our first results from the inquiry do not show what gunshot was aimed at Shireen," he added, "and I cannot rule out any possibility because to the operational disarray on the ground."

        Following a spate of attacks by Israeli Arabs and Palestinians on the streets of Israel and the West Bank in recent weeks that left 17 Israelis and two Ukrainians dead, the Israeli military increased operations on Jenin. Hundreds of Palestinians have been slain, including terrorists killed while carrying out assaults and militants and bystanders killed during Israeli raids and clashes. The Jenin neighborhood was home to four Palestinians who carried out attacks in Israel. 

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