Israel said it would conduct forensic tests on the bullet that killed Palestinian-American journalist Shireen Abu Akle, a day after Palestinian officials turned the evidence over to a US security coordinator for review on what they said was a condition that Israel not be involved.
The tests will be carried out by Israeli investigators in the presence of US observers, Israeli army spokesman Brigadier General Ran Kohav told army radio on Sunday.
Akram al-Khatib, the attorney general of the Palestinian Authority (PA), told Voice of Palestine radio that the test would take place at the US embassy in Jerusalem, but that “we have received assurances from the US coordinator that the review will be carried out by them and that the Israeli side will not participate”.
The new dispute threatens to derail what on Saturday appeared to be an important step toward resolving the standoff between Israel and the Palestinians over the investigation into the death of the Al Jazeera reporter.
AFP quoted an unnamed Palestinian official later Sunday as saying Kochav’s remarks raised questions about whether the PA could “trust the Americans.”
Abu Akle, 51, a prominent figure in the Arab world, was shot in the head in the West Bank city of Jenin in May during what her colleagues at the scene said was Israeli fire on a group of journalists covering an Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) attack. . Abu Akleh wore a helmet and a protective vest clearly marked “press”.
Footage of Israeli police storming her funeral procession in Jerusalem, causing pallbearers to almost drop her coffin, added to Palestinian and international outrage.
Israel initially blamed Palestinian militants for the reporter’s death, but has since admitted that an IS soldier may have “accidentally” killed her. The Army said it has identified the rifle that may have been used, but cannot draw any conclusions unless it is compared to the bullet to find marks left by the gun’s unique barrel rifling.
The PA previously rejected Israel’s offer to conduct a joint investigation under US supervision, saying it did not trust Israel and that its army had deliberately attacked Abu Akleh.
Army data released under Israel’s freedom of information law and analyzed by Yesh Din, an Israeli human rights organization, show that Israeli soldiers are almost completely immune from prosecution in cases where Palestinians are injured.
The US embassy said there was “nothing new at this time” related to Sunday’s remarks by the IDF that Israeli experts would be included in the judicial inquiry, contrary to what the PA says it was told.
The UN, EU and PA have called for an independent investigation into Abu Akle’s death, and the Palestinians have taken the case to the International Criminal Court.
The official Palestinian investigation found that the star reporter of the Qatar-based TV channel was deliberately killed. UN investigations, as well as several journalistic inquiries, found that the shot that killed Abu Akle was fired by Israeli forces.
The new chapter in the war of narratives over the journalist’s killing came just over a week before Joe Biden’s expected visit to Israel and the occupied West Bank, posing a diplomatic and domestic test for Israel’s new Prime Minister Yair Lapid.
A Palestinian official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was discussing a diplomatic matter, told The Associated Press that the issue was raised in a recent phone call between Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, and that both sides hoped to resolve the issue before Biden’s arrival on July 13.
Abu Akle’s brother, Anton, said in a statement Saturday night that the family had not been “advised or informed by any party, official or otherwise, that [a US-Palestinian investigation] was in development or settled,” calling the lack of transparency “alarming.”
“We have serious doubts that this process will lead to accountability. We will remain vigilant in our efforts to achieve justice for Shireen, regardless of the obstacles, and will monitor this process closely and with an extremely critical eye,” he said.
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