US opposes Al Jazeera’s efforts to take Abu Akleh case to ICC

"We oppose it in this case," US State Department spokesperson Ned Price told reporters on Tuesday after the network took the murder's case to the ICC.

Wearing press attire, 51-year-old Abu Akleh was murdered in cold blood while covering an Israeli military raid in the occupied West Bank city of Jenin on May 11. Later, her funeral was also attacked by the regime forces.

The Israeli military has only admitted that the journalist had been "accidentally" killed by the regime forces’ gunfire.

Tel Aviv has insisted that it would neither open any criminal investigation into the case, nor would it cooperate with any such relevant probe.

Price reaffirmed the US's decades-old policy of protecting the Israeli regime's against whatever instance of accountability at international organizations, including the Hague-based court, over its atrocities against Palestinians. The unwavering American policy has seen Washington invariably use its veto power to block anti-Israeli resolutions at the United Nations.

"We maintain our longstanding objections to the ICC’s investigation into the Palestinian situation," Price said when asked about Al Jazeera’s request from the court.

Besides shielding the Israeli regime on the international arena, the US provides Tel Aviv with an annual military assistance package worth close to $4 billion that it freely uses to shore up its occupation of the Palestinian territories and reinforce its often deadly efforts to trample on Palestinians' freedoms.