RAMALLAH, Palestinian Territories — The
Palestinian Authority (PA) handed the bullet that killed Al Jazeera journalist
Shireen Abu Akleh to US forensic experts on Saturday as it seeks to prove
conclusively that it was fired by Israeli occupation forces.
اضافة اعلان
The PA was assured that no modifications would be
made to the bullet that killed Abu Akleh during an Israeli raid in the occupied
West Bank, and that it would be returned as soon as the assessment was
complete, Palestinian Attorney General Akram Al-Khatib told AFP.
However, Al Jazeera reported that an Israeli
spokesperson said that “the test will not be American. The test will be an
Israeli test, with an American presence throughout.”
The PA gave the green light to hand over the bullet
to the US, but not to Israel, the Palestinian news agency Wafa reported.
The
Palestinian-American journalist, who was wearing
a vest marked “Press” and a helmet, was killed on May 11 while covering an
Israeli raid in Jenin camp in the northern West Bank.
The official Palestinian investigation found that
Abu Akleh was killed after being hit by a bullet just below her helmet.
It found that Abu
Akleh was killed with a 5.56mm armor-piercing round fired from a Ruger Mini-14
rifle.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken had promised
last month to pursue accountability over the killing of Abu Akleh wherever the
facts might lead.
“We are looking for an independent, credible
investigation. When that investigation happens, we will follow the facts,
wherever they lead. It’s as straightforward as that,” said Blinken.
Israel rejects blame
Investigations by the
UN, as
well as several journalistic probes, have found that the shot that killed the
reporter was fired by Israeli forces.
“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 UN rights office inspected photo, video, and
audio material, visited the scene, consulted experts, reviewed official
communications and interviewed witnesses.
The probe examined submissions from the Israeli army
and the Palestinian attorney general.
However, the Israeli army branded the UN’s findings
unfounded, insisting it was “not possible” to determine how Abu Akleh was
killed.
Israeli officials initially said Palestinian fighters 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. Israeli
media later reported that the military had no plans to launch a criminal
investigation, Al Jazeera reported.
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