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TEL AVIV – A day after a Palestinian-American journalist was killed in an Israeli attack on a West Bank city, the Israeli military said it was investigating the possibility that the deadly shot was fired by one of its soldiers, according to an Israeli Defense Minister.
The official said the military was investigating three separate incidents involving the shooting of her soldiers following the death of reporter Shirin Abu Akleh, a longtime correspondent for the Al Jazeera news channel, and the wounding of her producer at the Jenin refugee camp on Wednesday.
The admission that one of the Israeli soldiers may have been guilty marked a significant departure from Israel’s initial explanation for the shooting – that Abu Aqla was “most likely” hit by Palestinian extremists.
An American reporter killed by the IDF says the network; Israel is calling for an investigation
An IDF spokesman, who wished to remain anonymous to share details of the ongoing investigation, said the military was investigating an exchange of shootings between Israeli soldiers in a vehicle and one or more Palestinian gunmen he said fired at a vehicle. The official said the shooting took place on a street about 490 feet from where Abu Akleh was killed. Of the three incidents investigated, he was “more likely to be involved in Shiren’s death,” the official said.
“A soldier with a rifle and a very good targeting system fired at an M16 terrorist, in very good condition, a very clear picture, shooting at our troops. What we are investigating now is Shearin’s location, “he said, adding that military investigators had taken the rifles from Israeli servicemen involved in the incident to provide for ballistic testing.
In the hours following the assassination of Abu Akleh, Al Jazeera and Palestinian Authority said Israel was responsible. Numerous witnesses interviewed by The Washington Post said there was no exchange of skirmishes between the Israeli military and Palestinian gunmen in the area where she reported to Abu Akleh, or at the time she was shot, which contradicts the allegations of Israel that she was caught in crossfire.
Israel has said it has requested the launch of a joint investigation with the Palestinian Authority, which will be monitored by US officials.
On Thursday, Palestinian Civil Affairs Minister Hussein al-Sheikh called the killing a “murder.” He said Palestinian authorities had refused to cooperate with Israel in the investigation and would not hand over the bullet that killed Abu Akle to Israeli authorities, saying he had been taken for initial ballistic tests at An-Naja University in Nablus.
The sheikh said the Palestinian Authority would announce the results of the investigation, when completed, to Abu Aqlé’s family and public, as well as to the United States, Qatar and other relevant bodies (Al Jazeera is based in Qatar).
Palestinian and Israeli authorities have not yet revealed the caliber of the bullet used in the shooting, which at first glance is critical evidence of responsibility. Ryan al-Ali, director of the An-Naja Institute of Forensic Medicine, told a news conference Wednesday that an initial probe showed the bullet had been fired “within a range of more than a meter”, but it was not yet possible to it was found to have been fired from the pistol of an Israeli soldier.
Services for Abu Akleh on Thursday included a memorial gathering in Ramallah attended by Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, followed by a procession of thousands of mourners who took her body to her home in Jerusalem. Her funeral is scheduled for Friday. Abu Akleh was a Palestinian Catholic.
In Ramallah, hundreds of weeping Palestinians have pushed forward to touch or simply get closer to a figure that has become a favorite presence in the daily routine throughout the region over the decades. One of her colleagues likened the emotional outburst to the funeral of Palestinian leader Yasar Arafat.
The Biden administration, members of Congress and UN officials, among others, have called for an investigation into her murder.
Palestinian witnesses to the scene, who spoke to The Post on Wednesday, said the fighting in Jenin, during an Israeli attack on the city, was far from where Abu Akleh was stationed and ended long before it was hit.
Ali al-Samudi, the producer who was wounded in the back, told The Washington Post that the area where the journalist was waiting was “dead quiet” when individual shots were fired. All reporters wore helmets and life jackets.
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