Palestine authorities reject US probe on Al Jazeera journalist

RAMALLAH/GAZA－Palestinian authorities on Monday rejected the results of the ballistic investigation attended by US experts into the gunshot that killed a veteran Palestinian-American journalist in the northern West Bank in May.

Earlier in the day, the Israeli army announced that the investigation could not determine the party responsible for the killing of Shireen Abu Akleh, a reporter for Al Jazeera in the Palestinian territories.

In a press statement, Palestinian presidential spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeineh said the Israeli report on the martyrdom of Palestinian journalist Abu Akleh is "a new Israeli attempt to evade responsibility for her murder".

"All the evidence, facts and investigations that were conducted prove that Israel is the culprit, and they are the ones who killed Shireen, and they must bear responsibility for their crime," he said, commenting on the results of the Israeli investigation.

The United States urged accountability from Israel on Monday after the army admitted one of its soldiers had likely shot Abu Akleh after having mistaken her for a militant.

"We welcome Israel's review of this tragic incident, and again underscore the importance of accountability in this case, such as policies and procedures to prevent similar incidents from occurring in the future," said US State Department spokesman Ned Price in a statement.

Earlier on Monday, the Israeli army said in an official press statement that it is "highly probable" that Abu Akleh was killed by an Israeli soldier.

The statement said the official probe found that Abu Akleh was likely shot by an Israeli soldier who was using a telescopic scope while under fire and misidentified her as an armed Palestinian gunman.

Israeli media reported that the Israel Defense Forces maintains it cannot rule out the possibility that Abu Akleh was killed by Palestinian gunfire, but it admits it is more likely an Israeli soldier was responsible.

The reports said the Israeli Military Advocate General's Office decided not to open an investigation into any soldiers involved in the incident as "there is no suspicion that a criminal offense was committed".

"The Israeli army did not come up with anything new, and it is a political statement that is not based on serious legal investigations," said Ahmed al-Deek, political adviser to the Palestinian foreign minister, in a statement.

Separate investigation

The Palestinian Authority had previously conducted a separate investigation into the killing of Abu Akleh, who holds US citizenship, and refused the joint investigation with Israel to prevent fraud.

The results of the Palestinian investigations concluded at the time that the gunshot that killed Abu Akleh came from an Israeli sniper rifle deliberately.

On Saturday, the bullet that killed Abu Akleh was received by Michael Wenzel, the US security coordinator for Israel and the Palestinian Authority, for professional and independent ballistic examination.

By summarizing both Israeli and Palestinian investigations, Wenzel said in a statement that gunfire from Israeli positions was "likely responsible" for the death of Abu Akleh, but no reason was found "to believe that this was intentional".

Abu Akleh, a 51-year-old Palestinian Christian born in Jerusalem, was shot in the head with a live bullet on May 11 while covering an Israeli army incursion into the Jenin refugee camp in the northern West Bank.

The incident drew widespread Palestinian, Arab and international condemnation.

Abu Akleh's family said they rejected the results of the Israeli investigation.

The family's statement affirmed that it will continue to call on members of the US Congress and civil society organizations "to pressure President Joe Biden to follow up on the case and conduct a comprehensive, independent and credible investigation".

Xinhua - Agencies