Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh asked Israeli authorities for the weapon identified as being used in the murder of journalist Shireen Abu Akleh, while covering the clashes in the West Bank for Al Jazeera. “We demand that they hand over the rifle that killed Abu Akleh,” said the head of the Palestinian Authority, according to Europa Press, at an act to commemorate the journalist’s death, which occurred 40 days ago.
Israel admitted the possibility that the journalist died as a result of a shot by its own army, but maintains that it is impossible to draw conclusions, since it cannot examine the bullet that killed the reporter, which is under the responsibility of the Palestinian coroner. services.
Israeli military officials have identified, according to the Times of Israel, an assault rifle that may have fired the projectile that killed Abu Akleh, but that confirmation would require ballistic analysis to compare the weapon to the bullet. The Palestinian prime minister reiterated that he has no intention of either handing over the bullet or conducting a joint investigation with Israel.
“We reject a joint investigation, because if these people invented the history of a people to steal our land and our homeland, here they can also invent a narrative. We don’t trust them,” the official said. The vice president of Fatah (ruling party in the West Bank), Mahmoud Aloul, also defended that “the Palestinian criminal investigations were transparent and professional, carried out by the Public Ministry and revealed the truth,” according to statements collected by the Palestinian Authority. wafa agency.
Shireen Abu Akleh was a journalist for Al Jazeera television who was shot in the head on May 11 while reporting in Jenin, in the occupied West Bank, during an Israeli military incursion.
The murder of Shireen Abu Akleh provoked a strong reaction in the Arab world and in several world capitals, increasing outrage when Israeli forces fired tear gas grenades and charged the men carrying the coffin at the journalist’s funeral. Last week, the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) presented to the International Criminal Court (ICC) the results of its investigations into the death of the 51-year-old journalist, of Palestinian and American origin, highly respected for her work in the occupied territories. by Israel.
According to the Palestinian prosecutor, she was “deliberately” killed by Israeli soldiers, who hit her in the face, despite being perfectly identified as a journalist and wearing a bulletproof vest and helmet. Israel goes on to argue that it has “no conclusive information” to establish who killed her.
Source: Observadora
