GENEVA, Switzerland — The UN said
Friday it found that Israeli occupation forces fired the shot that killed Al
Jazeera journalist
Shireen Abu Akleh on May 11, according to AFP.
اضافة اعلان
The Palestinian-American TV reporter, who was
wearing a vest marked “Press” and a helmet, was killed while covering a raid by
Israeli forces on Jenin camp in the northern West Bank.
“We find that the shots that killed Abu Akleh came
from Israeli security forces,”
UN Human Rights Office spokeswoman Ravina
Shamdasani told reporters in Geneva.
“It is deeply disturbing that Israeli authorities
have not conducted a criminal investigation.”
She said the Human Rights Office had concluded its
own independent monitoring into the incident.
“All information we have gathered ... is consistent
with the finding that the shots that killed Abu Akleh and injured her colleague
Ali Sammoudi came from Israeli security forces and not from indiscriminate
firing by armed Palestinians, as initially claimed by Israeli authorities,” she
said.
“We have found no information suggesting that there
was activity by armed Palestinians in the immediate vicinity of the
journalists.”
Her killing led to outrage from Palestinians and
around the world, with thousands attending her funeral in occupied
East Jerusalem, Al Jazeera reported. Israeli forces attacked the pallbearers at the
funeral, almost causing Abu Akleh’s coffin to fall to the ground.
Multiple witnesses said that Israeli forces killed
the veteran reporter. Investigations conducted by several media organizations
have also come to the same conclusion.
‘Seemingly well-aimed bullets’
In line with its human
rights monitoring methodology, the UN rights office inspected photo, video, and
audio material; visited the scene; consulted experts; reviewed official
communications; and interviewed witnesses.
The probe included information from
Israeli forces
and the Palestinian attorney general.
The UN rights office found that seven journalists
arrived at the western entrance of the Jenin camp soon after 6am.
“The journalists said they chose a side street for
their approach to avoid the location of armed Palestinians inside the camp and
that they proceeded slowly in order to make their presence visible to the
Israeli forces deployed down the street,” Shamdasani said. “Our findings
indicate that no warnings were issued, and no shooting was taking place at that
time and at that location.”
At around 6:30am, as four of the journalists turned
into a particular street, “several single, seemingly well-aimed bullets were
fired towards them from the direction of the Israeli security forces.
“One single bullet injured Ali Sammoudi in the
shoulder; another single bullet hit Abu Akleh in the head and killed her
instantly.”
Several further single bullets were fired as an
unarmed man attempted to approach Abu Akleh’s body and another uninjured
journalist sheltering behind a tree, said Shamdasani.
Shots continued to be fired as this individual
eventually managed to carry away Abu Akleh’s body, she added.
Israel demands bullet
In response, Israel forces
said it was “not possible” to determine how Abu Akleh was killed.
Israel has claimed that, according to an internal
investigation, Israeli forces did not intentionally fire at Abu Akleh and that
“it is not possible to determine whether she was killed by a Palestinian gunman
shooting indiscriminately ... or inadvertently by (Israeli forces).”
Israeli officials, including Prime Minister Naftali
Bennett, initially tried to argue that Palestinian gunmen could have killed Abu
Akleh.
However, Israel later backtracked and said it could
not rule out the possibility that an Israeli soldier had fired the shot.
The official Palestinian investigation found that
the Qatari television channel’s star reporter was killed after being hit by a
bullet just below her helmet.
Their report said Abu Akleh was killed with a 5.56mm
armor-piercing round fired from a Ruger Mini-14 rifle.
Israel’s mission in
Geneva said the UN finding
“deplorably fails to mention the main obstacle to establishing the truth in
this tragic incident: the Palestinian Authority’s refusal to conduct a joint
investigation and hand over the bullet”.
“Without this evidence, it is not possible for any
‘independent monitoring’ to legitimately conclude” how Abu Akleh was killed, it
said.
Criminal investigation call
Her niece Lina Abu Akleh
asked on Twitter: “So what’s going to happen now? How many more reports do we
need for them to be held accountable?”
UN human rights chief
Michelle Bachelet has urged
Israel to open a criminal investigation into Abu Akleh’s killing and into all
other killings by Israeli forces in the West Bank and in the context of law
enforcement operations in Gaza.
“Since just the beginning of the year, our office
has verified that Israeli security forces have killed 58 Palestinians in the
West Bank, including 13 children,” said Shamdasani.
“International human rights law requires prompt, thorough,
transparent, independent, and impartial investigation into all use of force
resulting in death or serious injury. Perpetrators must be held to account.”
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