RAMALLAH | Palestinians pay tribute Thursday to one of their own, star journalist Shireen Abu Akleh, who was shot and killed during an Israeli military operation in the occupied West Bank, after rejecting calls for a joint investigation with Israel into her death.
• Read also: Journalist killed during an Israeli operation in the West Bank; calls for a transparent investigation
After saying that the journalist of the pan-Arab channel Al Jazeera had “probably” succumbed to a shooting by Palestinian fighters on Wednesday, Israel said it did not rule out that the bullet was fired by its soldiers in Jenin in the West Bank, Palestinian territory occupied by the Israeli army since 1967.
A 51-year-old Palestinian Christian who also holds US citizenship, the journalist wore a bulletproof jacket with the “press” logo on it and a hard hat as she covered the operation. Al Jazeera accused Israeli forces of “deliberately” and “cold-blooded” killing of its star journalist, who was fatally shot in the head.
The announcement of his death aroused great emotion in the Palestinian Territories, in the Arab world where his reports have been followed for more than two decades, in Europe and in the United States.
At the end of Thursday morning, an official ceremony is planned in Ramallah in the West Bank, at the headquarters of the Palestinian Authority, in the presence of President Mahmoud Abbas and representatives of the press, before her funeral on Friday in a church in Jerusalem, where she had grown up.
Palestinians including children continued to lay flowers at the place of his death in Jenin refugee camp and several small demonstrations broke out spontaneously to protest his death.
Shireen “was the sister of all Palestinians,” her brother Antoun Abu Akleh told AFP on Wednesday evening, her voice choked with tears.
“What happened cannot be silenced. Thank God, the Palestinian people supported her and support us, she will not be forgotten (…).”
“Not sure”
The Israeli army has launched several operations in recent weeks to apprehend Palestinians wanted in the Jenin refugee camp, a stronghold of Palestinian armed factions in the northern West Bank from which the perpetrators of deadly attacks in Israel originated.
Immediately after the Palestinian journalist’s death, Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett suggested that she “probably” succumbed to fire from Palestinian fighters.
But later on Wednesday, Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz told the foreign press that the army “was not sure how she was killed.”
“It may have been a Palestinian who shot her (…) The shot may also have come from our side, we are investigating,” said Mr. Gantz, referring to an “unfortunate” death.
According to Palestinian pathologist Rayyan Ali, who was able to examine the body, the journalist was killed by a bullet that hit her “at high speed” in the head.
“We need forensic evidence” from the Palestinians, including the bullet that killed the reporter, in order to conduct a “full” investigation, Gantz said.
“All Indicators”
Cogat, the unit of the Israeli Ministry of Defense that oversees civilian activities in the Palestinian Territories, claimed the bullet from the Palestinians “in order to allow the criminal investigation division of the military police to carry out a forensic investigation to trace the origin of the shooting,” an Israeli security source told AFP.
Israel offered Palestinian and American officials to “be present” when the bullet is examined, and possibly identify the weapon it came from, according to the same source.
“Israel demanded a joint investigation and that we hand over the bullet that killed the journalist, but we refuse. The investigation must be completely independent”, reacted Thursday Hussein al-Sheikh, a tenor of the Palestinian Authority, promising to make the results public “with great transparency”.
“All indicators, evidence and witnesses confirm his assassination by Israeli special units,” he said.
The United States has called for a “transparent” investigation, preferably joint between Israelis and Palestinians, while the UN and the European Union have urged an “independent” investigation.
“We strongly condemn the murder of American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh,” the State Department spokesperson tweeted.
The group of Arab countries at the UN has called for “an independent international investigation” into “this criminal act by the Israeli occupation authorities”.
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