Israeli soldier deliberately shot Al Jazeera reporter, Palestinian official says

RAMALLAH, West Financial institution, May perhaps 26 (Reuters) – The Palestinian Authority explained on Thursday its investigation into the killing of Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh showed that she was shot by an Israeli soldier in a “deliberate murder”.

Israel angrily denied the accusation and explained it was continuing its possess investigations into the demise of Abu Akleh, who died on May well 11 although she was covering an Israeli military services raid in the town of Jenin in the occupied West Bank.

The Israeli army experienced mentioned previously that she could have been shot unintentionally by a single of its soldiers or by a Palestinian militant in an trade of fire.

Palestinian Legal professional Standard Akram Al-Khatib explained to reporters that its enquiry showed there experienced been no militants close to Abu Akleh when she died.

“The only resource of hearth in that location arrived from the occupation forces with the intention to eliminate,” Al-Khatib stated, referring to the Israel Defence Forces (IDF).

He additional that Abu Akleh, who experienced been sporting a helmet and a push vest that clearly marked her as a journalist, experienced tried out to flee with some fellow reporters as the very first shots rang out. “It represents a war criminal offense,” Al-Khatib said.

Qatar’s Al Jazeera Tv set Network said it would refer the killing to the International Felony Court docket (ICC). browse much more

Israeli Defence Minister Benny Gantz turned down the results.

“Any claim that the IDF deliberately harms journalists or uninvolved civilians, is a blatant lie,” he wrote on Twitter.

He reiterated his get in touch with for the Palestinians to cooperate with Israel in the investigation and hand around the bullet for ballistic checks to see if it matched an Israeli navy gun.

The Palestinians say they do not have confidence in Israel and have refused to maintain a joint probe.

Al-Khatib stated exams showed that the bullet that killed Abu Akleh was a 5.56 mm spherical fired from a Ruger Mini-14 semiautomatic rifle, which is employed by the Israeli armed forces.

That exact same 5.56 calibre can also be fired from M-16 rifles that are carried by numerous Palestinian militants. Al-Khatib did not say how he was confident it experienced come from an Israeli rifle.

Israel has explained the only way to be positive if it was fired by one particular of its soldiers was to analyse the bullet and see if the markings on it matched the barrel of an Israeli gun.

“I keep on to simply call on the PA to hand in excess of the bullet and conclusions. We are prepared and prepared to perform an investigation in collaboration with international actors,” Gantz explained on Thursday.

Added reporting by Nidal al-Mughrabi Creating by Henriette Chacar and Crispian Balmer Modifying by Howard Goller

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