The Israeli army concluded on Monday that there is no way its soldiers “deliberately” fired at Palestinian Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh, who was killed on May 11 in the occupied West Bank city of Jenin in the West Bank, RT.com reported.
In a statement, the Israeli military claimed it had assembled a multidisciplinary task force to “reconstruct and model the circumstances of the incident as accurately as possible.”
However, the Israeli statement seemingly contradicts the conclusions of the US State Department, which found the Israeli army had likely killed Abu Akleh “unintentionally,” but argued there was no way to be sure of the gunman’s intention.
The Israeli human rights organization B’Tselem said on Monday that the Israeli army killing of Palestinian journalist Shireen Abu Akleh should be looked at as a crime, not simply a “result of tragic circumstances.”
Read full statement: https://t.co/yPvoW1GPqE pic.twitter.com/RYWfAJMJTz
— The Palestine Chronicle (@PalestineChron) July 5, 2022
State Department spokesman Ned Price confirmed that “gunfire from IDF positions was likely responsible for the death of Shireen Abu Akleh.”
Washington’s investigators had conducted a ballistic analysis which found the bullet too “badly damaged” to reach a “clear conclusion.”
The journalist’s family was outraged by the US’ refusal to condemn Israel, declaring they were “incredulous” regarding the supposedly inconclusive results given the many eyewitness accounts of the shooting. They also demanded to know the extent to which US funds “were involved” in her killing.
Statement by our family. We will continue to call for justice and accountability and call upon the UN and ICC to take immediate action in order to bring justice. This doesn’t end here. #JusticeforShireen pic.twitter.com/n0EoMmvRRY
— Lina Abu Akleh (@LinaAbuAkleh) July 4, 2022
“To say that this investigation, with its total lack of transparency, undefined goals and support for Israel’s overall position is a disappointment would be an understatement,” they said in a statement posted to Twitter on Monday.
“The truth is that the Israeli military killed Shireen according to policies that view all Palestinians – civilian, press or otherwise – as legitimate targets,” the statement read, accusing the US probe of “parsing over barely-relevant details and then assuming good faith on behalf of a recalcitrant and hostile occupying power.”
The family vowed to seek justice from the United Nations and International Criminal Court instead.
(RT, PC, Social Media)
