News - Middle East: The United Nations human rights chief has called on Israeli authorities to open a criminal investigation into circumstances surrounding the the killing of veteran Palestinian journalist Shireen Abu Akleh, who was shot dead last month while covering an Israeli army raid in the occupied West Bank, and to hold perpetrators to account.

“Under international human rights law, Israel should investigate and ensure appropriate accountability for every case of death and serious injury inflicted by Israeli forces. The prevailing climate of impunity is fueling further violence and violations,” Michelle Bachelet said during her opening address to the Geneva-based body’s summer session on Monday.

“The now chronically high levels of killings and injuries of Palestinians, including children by Israeli forces in the occupied Palestinian territory, have continued in the first six months of 2022,” the former president of Chile noted.

On Sunday, the American daily newspaper Washington Post published an investigative article on the killing of Abu Akleh – a renowned reporter of the Qatar-based and Arabic-language Al Jazeera television news network, stating that an Israeli soldier killed her on May  11 in the occupied West Bank city of Jenin.