The Israeli military first acknowledged on Monday (5) that there was a “strong probability” that one of its soldiers had killed Al Jazeera correspondent Shireen Abu Akleh in May.
Shireen Abu Akleh was shot dead on May 11 while watching an Israeli military operation in the Palestinian camp, a stronghold of Palestinian armed groups in the north of the occupied West Bank, where a special Israeli army is trying to capture “suspects”. The intervention led to armed conflicts.
Following the death of Shireen Abu Akleh, who wore a bulletproof vest and helmet with the words “press” on her, the Palestinian Authority and Al Jazeera immediately accused Israeli forces of killing her.
Israel has repeatedly denied the allegation, although journalistic investigations and a UN report concluded that the bullet that reached the reporter was the work of the Israelis, albeit unintentionally.
But in its “final results”, the Israeli military admitted on Monday that one of its soldiers had fired at the journalist.
“There is a strong possibility that Abu Akleh was shot by the Israeli army by mistake, targeting suspects identified as Palestinian gunmen,” the Israeli army said in the results of its investigation into the death of the Palestinian and American journalist.
The Armed Forces said they examined the sequence of events “chronologically”, analyzed locations, videos and recorded audio, and performed a “scene simulation”.
According to the military, “Israeli experts” conducted a ballistic analysis on July 2 in the presence of representatives of the US Israel Security Coordination Committee and the Palestinian Authority.
– Target error? –
In its report, the army emphasized that it was “difficult” to determine its exit due to the “poor condition of the bullet” and stated that it was not “absolutely” sure about the bullet that ended the journalist’s life.
The US also concluded that the shot from an Israeli position “probably” killed Shireen Abu Akleh, but found no reason to believe it was intentional.
“The soldier was not trying to shoot an Al Jazeera journalist or any other journalist. (…) The soldier misidentified his target and regretted it,” a senior Israeli military official said at a news conference on Monday. said. “This shouldn’t have happened, it wasn’t intentional,” he added.
According to this source, the soldier, who was about 200 meters from the journalist, did not see the “press” ID on his bulletproof vest. He also stated that the reporter was hit in the back of the head by a bullet.
Israel’s Military Prosecutor’s Office announced on Monday that although there is a “high probability” that Israeli soldiers killed Shireen Abu Akleh, “there is no suspicion of a crime that justifies the military police’s criminal investigation.”
The journalist’s family accused Israeli authorities of “avoiding responsibility” for his death on Monday. “We are deeply wounded, frustrated and disappointed,” the family said in a statement, calling for a credible US investigation.
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© Agence France-Press
source: Noticias
