Palestinians reject probe with Israel of reporter’s killing

JERUSALEM — The Palestinian Authority on Thursday rejected an Israeli request to carry a joint investigation into the killing of Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh, saying it might not hand over the bullet that killed her for ballistic evaluation.

Hussein Al Sheikh, a senior aide to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, mentioned that the Palestinians would conduct their very own impartial probe and that every one events would be told of “the outcomes of the investigation with excessive transparency.”

Abu Akleh, a veteran Al Jazeera journalist, was shot and killed on Wednesday whereas overlaying an Israeli navy raid within the occupied West Financial institution. The broadcaster and two reporters who have been along with her blamed Israeli forces.

Israeli officers initially steered that Abu Akleh might have been killed by militant fireplace, however walked that again considerably later within the day, saying there have been no “last conclusions.”

Her dying was met by an outpouring of grief throughout the West Financial institution. Her physique was to be taken to the headquarters of the Palestinian Authority in Ramallah on Thursday earlier than being dropped at Jerusalem for burial on Friday.

The killing sparked condemnations from across the globe. U.N. Secretary Common Antonio Gutteres has known as for an “an impartial and clear investigation” to make sure these accountable are held to account.

Israel’s protection minister, Benny Gantz, on Wednesday promised such an inquiry, saying he was in contact with U.S. and Palestinian officers and hoped for cooperation between Israel and the Palestinians.

“We try to determine precisely what occurred,” he mentioned. “I don’t have last conclusions.”

Abu Akleh’s dying might draw new scrutiny of Israel’s navy justice system, which is being examined as a part of a warfare crimes probe carried out by the Worldwide Felony Courtroom. It additionally threatened to additional pressure typically rocky relations between the military and the worldwide media.

Abu Akleh, 51, was a revered and acquainted face within the Center East, identified for her protection on Al Jazeera Arabic of the cruel realities of Israel’s open-ended navy occupation of the Palestinians, now in its fifty fifth yr. She was well known within the West Financial institution and was additionally a U.S. citizen.

Her dying comes amid a wave of Israeli-Palestinian violence that has been fueled by tensions at a key Jerusalem holy website. Not less than 18 Israelis have been killed in Palestinian assaults in current weeks, whereas greater than 30 Palestinians, most of them concerned in assaults or clashes with Israeli forces, have been killed. A number of others have appeared to have been unarmed or passersby, sparking criticism that Israel has used extreme power in its crackdown on militants.