“All the information compiled” by independent investigators from the UN Human Rights Office suggests that the ‘Al Jazeera’ journalist, Shireen Abu Akleh, was shot dead by Israeli security forces. The journalist was covering a raid by Israeli security forces in the occupied West Bank. Israel denied the accusations.
Palestinian-American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh was killed by an Israeli bullet. Thus concludes a report by independent investigators of the UN Office for Human Rights. Abu Akleh was covering for the ‘Al Jazeera’ television network, where he had worked since 1997, an Israel police raid that led to violent clashes between Palestinians and Israeli soldiers.
“The shots did not come from armed Palestinians, as the Israeli authorities initially defended,” said the spokeswoman for the UN Human Rights office, Ravina Shamdasani, on Friday, June 24, who considered it “alarming” that Israel has not started 44 days after the death of the journalist a criminal investigation into this murder.
The office’s investigation has used information from the Israeli military and the Palestinian attorney general’s office, which according to Shamdasani, among other things, do not show that there was armed activity by Palestinian groups at the scene of the crime.
It also notes that the final report contains photographic, video and audio material, in addition to visiting the scene, consulting experts, examining official communications and interviewing witnesses.
On May 11, the day of the murder, the veteran correspondent, along with six other journalists, arrived at the west gate of the Jenin refugee camp in the occupied West Bank to cover the raid. According to the journalists who worked with Abu Akleh that Wednesday, they proceeded in such a way that her movements were visible to the Israeli military, but to no avail.
Despite the fact that they all wore vests that identified them as part of the press with the brand “PRESS”, in addition to protective helmets, the journalist was hit by a bullet in the head, the independent UN investigation concluded.
“From the direction of the Israeli security forces, several apparently well-aimed individual bullets were fired at (reporters),” Shamdasani said. A single bullet killed Abu Akleh “instantly” and another hit his colleague, Ali Samoudi, in his shoulder.
The report also describes several more individual bullets being fired when an unarmed man attempted to approach the body of Abu Akleh and another journalist who was taking cover behind a tree. The shooting continued as this individual finally managed to take Abu Akleh’s body away.
The conclusions of this report coincide with the investigations carried out by the Palestinian National Authority (PNA), the ‘Al Jazeera’ chain and other media such as ‘CNN’, ‘The Washington Post’ and ‘The New York Times’.
Israel rejects UN accusations
Immediately after the UN report was published, Israel rejected the conclusions about Abu Akleh’s death as biased. “We can only uncover the truth by conducting a thorough ballistics and forensic investigation and not through groundless investigations like the one published by the office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights,” Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz said.
“Once again I call on the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) to hand over the bullet that hit Shireen to Israel. That is what must be done to uncover the truth,” he added. The bullet remains in the hands of the Palestinian authorities, who refuse to release it or carry out a joint investigation by not trusting Israel.
Once again I express my condolences following the death of journalist Shireen Abu Akleh. Her loved ones of her deserve the truth, which may only be uncovered via a thorough forensic investigation and not through unfounded reports such as the one published by the UN High Commissioner.
— בני גנץ – Benny Gantz (@gantzbe) June 24, 2022
“We refuse to hand over the bullet with which Shireen was killed and we demand the handover of the weapon that was fired,” Palestinian Prime Minister Mohamed Shtayeh said Sunday at a ceremony marking 40 days since Shireen’s death. Palestinian reporter.
The Palestinian authorities asked Israel that same Sunday to hand over the rifle that the Israeli Army would have used in the incident, after ‘Al Jazeera’ published an investigation last week in which it released an image of the bullet that killed her.
In the Qatari media investigation, it is stated that the bullet had a caliber of 5.56 millimeters, is used in M4 rifles and had a green tip like those designed to pierce armor. Ballistic and forensic experts consulted by ‘Al Jazeera’ analyzed the bullet using 3D models and concluded that it was made in the United States and that it corresponds to those used by Israeli forces.
For its part, the Israeli Army also spoke out and urged the ANP to “cooperate in the investigation of the event.”
“The Army’s investigation clearly concludes that Ms. Abu Akleh was not intentionally shot by an Israeli soldier and that it is not possible to determine whether she was killed by a Palestinian militiaman who fired indiscriminately in the area or inadvertently by an Israeli soldier,” added a military spokesman, reiterating Israel’s position since shortly after the incident.
The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet, continues to urge the Israeli authorities to open a criminal investigation into the murder of Abu Akleh and into all other killings and serious injuries committed by Israeli forces in the West Bank.
Spokeswoman Shamdasani recalled that so far this 2022, the UN Office for Human Rights has verified the murder of 58 Palestinians, including 13 children, by Israeli security forces.
Israel has carried out almost daily raids across the West Bank that it says are aimed at preventing further attacks.
With AP and EFE
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