A joint statement from 34 press and human rights organizations called for an immediate and independent investigation into the killing of Al-Jazeera reporter Shireen Abu Akleh.
The statement, published by the International Press Institute, expressed the great shock of many in the region and the world following the killing of Abu Aqila, describing her as a veteran journalist who worked for decades in Palestine.
The statement described the assassination of Al-Jazeera correspondent Shireen Abu Aqleh as a "terrible attack" on the press.
The statement called on Israel and all other countries to fulfill their responsibility to ensure that crimes committed against journalists are fully investigated and the perpetrators prosecuted.
He stressed that in the absence of an independent and impartial investigation by the Israeli government, the International Criminal Court should conduct an investigation into the circumstances of Abu Akleh's killing to determine whether this incident amounted to a war crime under the Rome Statute.
The statement called on world governments, especially Israel's allies, to hold the latter responsible for their international obligations to protect the integrity of the press and end impunity for crimes committed against journalists in Palestine.
Other signatories to the statement include the Committee to Protect Journalists, ARTICLE 19, the International Broadcasting Association, the Institute for Freedom of Expression, the Globe Center, the Gulf Center for Human Rights, the International Federation of Journalists, and the World Association of Community Broadcasters and Broadcasters.
And the Israeli occupation authorities are still refraining from opening an investigation into the killing of Shireen Abu Aqleh, although her initial examinations proved that its soldiers fired at the site where the Al-Jazeera reporter was while covering the storming of Jenin and her camp on 11 May.