The Palestinian Authority said on Saturday it would hand over the bullet that killed senior Al Jazeera reporter Shirin Abu Akla to US authorities for forensic examination, in hopes of determining whether the deadly shot was fired by an Israeli soldier or a Palestinian militant.
“We will not give the ammunition to Israel, but we have agreed that the Americans will review it,” said Palestinian Attorney General Akram al-Khatib. Haaretz.
The decision comes before President Joe Biden’s visit to Israel and the West Bank next week.
Khatib later told WAFA news agency that the bullet had passed to “American experts who came for this purpose”.
A Hamas security official photographed the murder of Palestinian-American journalist Shirin Abu Akle during his presentation at the graduation ceremony of the Al Rebat College Police Academy in Khan Younis, in southern Gaza, on Thursday, June 30, 2022. (AP Photo/Adel Khana)
The Palestinian Authority has so far refused to hand over the ammunition to neither Israeli nor US authorities. He also refused to conduct a joint investigation.
“We rejected the joint investigation because the makers of human history can make a narrative by stealing land and homeland. We do not trust them,” PA Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh said at the Abu Akla memorial.
Last month, a bipartisan group of 25 US lawmakers wrote a letter urging Secretary of State Anthony Blinken to force the Palestinian Authority to fire a bullet.
“We request that you ask the Palestinian Authority to provide access to forensic evidence of Abu Aqla’s death for an independent investigation so that all parties can reach a final conclusion about the events leading up to his death and hold everyone accountable to the party,” the lawmakers wrote.
By HaaretzThe Palestinian Authority eventually succumbed to US pressure to supply ammunition and made an agreement to which Israel was not a party.
But on Sunday, the Israeli military said they were responsible for performing the ballistic analysis.
Palestinians attend the state funeral of Al Jazeera reporter Sirin Abu Akle at the presidential headquarters in the West Bank city of Ramallah on May 12, 2022. (ABBAS MOMANI/AFP via Getty)
“The ammunition has already been given to the Americans and will pass professional Israeli tests in their presence. This was an IDF check, an IDF interrogation in the presence of the Americans, an Israeli interrogation,” IDF spokesman Ran Kochav said on Sunday. “The Palestinians have agreed to hand over the ammunition to the Americans so that the Israeli investigation can be conducted in their presence.”
By HaaretzPrime Minister Yair Lapid took part in the delivery of ammunition to the Americans.
Deputy Home Secretary Yoav Segalovitz said the reviews could take several days, and that some experts were “involved to make sure there is a clear view and not the hype we’ve had in the past month, month and a half.” “
Abu mindAn American citizen was killed in an armed conflict in Jenin in the West Bank in May. Israeli soldiers entered the Jenin refugee camp to detain terrorist suspects amid a series of terrorist attacks that killed 19 Israelis.
Source: Breitbart
