Relatives of Al-Jazeera correspondent, Palestinian-American journalist Sherine Abu Aqleh, confirmed to United Nations investigators that she was deliberately killed last May as part of a "broad war" waged by Israel against Palestinian media representatives.
The case of this veteran Al-Jazeera journalist was shot dead on May 11 while she was covering an Israeli military operation in the occupied West Bank while she was wearing a helmet and a bullet-proof vest with “press” written on it;
The focus of a rare public session at the United Nations in Geneva.
"We want justice," said Lina Abu Aqleh, the niece of the late journalist, to the French Press Agency - after testifying before the United Nations investigators in Geneva - considering it a "historic" moment.
Since last Monday, the investigation committee has been organizing this first series of hearings that Israel has strongly criticized.
This commission of inquiry was formed in 2021 to look into the deep causes of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Speaking to the investigators, Lina Abu Aqleh stressed that she had absolutely no doubt that the Israeli soldiers "deliberately targeted her aunt."
It is the same opinion expressed by a colleague of the late journalist, Ali Samoudi, producer of Al Jazeera, who was present when the shooting took place.
Smoudi told the UN investigators that they were wearing "full press uniform", stressing that there were no armed men in the vicinity.
He added that "a bullet suddenly exploded in the air" before shouting "Back off" and feeling an explosion behind him.
He continued, holding a picture of Sherine Abu Aqelah, that it was clear that she was "intentionally killed in cold blood."
Last September, the Israeli occupation army admitted for the first time that there was a "strong possibility" that the journalist had been killed by one of its soldiers.
For its part, the Palestinian Journalists Syndicate called on the UN Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territories to take necessary measures to protect Palestinian journalists from the restrictions of the Israeli occupation and to end what it described as a state of impunity from accountability for its crimes against them.
In his testimony before the committee, the head of the Palestinian Journalists' Syndicate, Nasser Abu Bakr, adhered to what he considered compelling evidence that the Israeli occupation authorities deliberately targeted and killed colleague Shireen Abu Aqleh.
He also questioned the integrity of the US administration's report, and stressed that the United States' endeavor to protect Israel from accountability has become clear.
He told UN investigators that about 50 Palestinian journalists had been killed since 2000 and that "no one has been held responsible."
He stressed that "Israel targets Palestinian journalists as part of a systematic policy to stifle and silence Palestinian voices."
He added, "We, as Palestinian journalists, are not only exposed to attacks and violations, but also to a wide war waged by the occupying power."