RABAT, Morocco

Bayt Mal Al Quds Agency on Saturday launched an award for journalistic excellence in honor of a Palestinian journalist killed while covering an Israeli military raid in the occupied West Bank.

The Bayt Mal Al Quds Agency was an initiative of late King Hassan II of Morocco that was accepted by the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) in December 1995 and officially commenced its activities in July 1998.

Based in Morocco, the Bayt Mal Al Quds Agency is a field arm of the Al-Quds Committee established in 1975 and permanently chaired by the king of Morocco with the aim of protecting Jerusalem and its Muslim holy sites.

It also acts as a financial institution specialized in humanitarian and social work and runs a number of projects in Jerusalem in the fields of health, education, housing, women's affairs, youth, and children, as well as providing special programs for vulnerable groups.

In a statement, the agency said that the first cycle of this award will bear the name of Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh.

The award jury will be made up of Moroccan and Palestinian media experts.

On May 11, Abu Akleh, 51, was covering an Israeli military raid near the Jenin refugee camp in the occupied West Bank when she was shot dead. Palestinian officials and her employer, Al Jazeera, said she was killed by Israeli forces.

*Writing by Ibrahim Mukhtar