This work by Middle East Monitor is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

Former Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) Judge Luis Moreno Ocampo has rejected the “terror” accusations levelled by Israel against Al- Jazeera journalist Anas al-Sharif and his team as pretext to assassinate them in a targeted airstrike on their tent in northern Gaza Strip, stressing that had it not been for them, the world would not have known what was happening in the Gaza Strip.

Late on Sunday, an Israeli drone targeted the journalists tent outside al- Shifaa hospital in northern Gaza killing al- Sharif and fellow reporter Mohammed Qraiqeh, cameramen Ibrahim Daher and Mohammed Nofal, as well as independent journalists Moamen Aliwa and Mohammed Al-Khalidi.

In a statement issued on Wednesday, Ocampo said “killing journalists is like depriving the world of the gift of sight,” calling on journalists worldwide to embrace the cause of Gaza’s journalists and make it their own.

“Israel, supported by the United States and Germany, is bombing people in Gaza. This is a major dilemma, because the United States promised to be the guardian of the global order and pledged to protect those who deserve protection. However, it opposed the establishment of the International Criminal Court, while my country, Argentina, supported this misguided policy” judge Ocampo said, and emphasised the need to “restore order to the world, otherwise the fighting will herald the end of humanity”.

On Tuesday, the Hind Rajab Foundation filed a complaint with the International Criminal Court against six Israeli army commanders over their role in the coordinated assassination al-Sharif and his colleagues in Gaza.

READ: Rights groups file case with ICC over Al Jazeera journalists’ killing in Gaza

This work by Middle East Monitor is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.