An investigation by the American newspaper The New York Times indicates that the bullet that killed Palestinian-American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh, hit during coverage in the West Bank on May 11, came from the approximate location of an Israeli military convoy and was probably fired. , by a soldier from the country’s elite unit.
The death of Abu Akleh, 51, an experienced reporter for the Al Jazeera network, generated worldwide commotion and criticism from the international community of the Israeli army’s actions in the region.
While Palestinian officials said the journalist was intentionally killed by the Israeli military, a preliminary Israeli army investigation concluded that it was not possible to “unambiguously determine the source of the shooting”. The government of Naftali Bennett said a military man may have shot her by mistake, but also suggested that a Palestinian sniper may have been responsible for the shooting.
The New York Times report, published on Monday (20), reconstructs in detail what happened at the time of the murder, based on videos, witness statements and an analysis of the bullets fired.
The text says analyzed evidence shows that there were no armed Palestinians near Abu Akleh when she was shot, which contradicts Israeli claims that if a soldier killed her by mistake, it was because he was shooting a Palestinian sniper.
According to the American newspaper, the investigation, which lasted a month, showed that 16 shots were fired from the location of the Israeli convoy towards journalists working on the coverage of the operation, not five, as Israel claimed.
The Times found no evidence that the person who fired the shot recognized Abu Akleh or intentionally shot him. It was also not possible to determine whether the shooter saw that she and her colleagues were wearing protective vests emblazoned with the word Press.
The investigation adds to other reports from outlets such as the Washington Post, CNN and the Associated Press, which had also concluded that the evidence is that Abu Akleh was killed by Israeli forces.
On May 26, the Palestinian Authority said its investigation, which included an autopsy and a forensic examination of the bullet, found that Israeli soldiers had killed the journalist.
Last week, Al Jazeera obtained an image of the bullet taken from the reporter’s head and accused Israel of killing her “in cold blood”. According to the media, it is the projectile of an M4 rifle, a weapon made in the USA and used by the Israeli Army.
Israel rejected these conclusions. The country has asked for a joint investigation and analysis of the bullet under international supervision, but Palestinian leaders have rejected that request, saying they do not trust Israel to investigate the murder.
On Friday, Israeli officials said they had added a senior investigator to the team investigating the crime. In a previous statement, the military rejected as a “blatant lie” the claim that they intentionally killed the journalist.
They said a preliminary investigation found that an unidentified elite soldier fired five bullets in Abu Akleh’s direction, believing he was shooting an armed Palestinian near the journalists.
A veteran of the profession, Abu Akleh was wearing a vest that identified her as a journalist at the time of her death. Her funeral was marked by the repression by soldiers of people who carried the coffin, in an act that was condemned by the international community.
