The Palestinian Authority (PA) and the Palestinian Resistance Movement Hamas slammed on Monday the results of the US forensic test about Palestinian journalist Shireen Abu Akleh’s murder, the Middle East Monitor reported.
Earlier on Monday, US State Department spokesman Ned Price said that “after an extremely detailed forensic analysis, independent, third-party examiners, as part of a process overseen by the US Security Coordinator (USSC), could not reach a definitive conclusion regarding the origin of the bullet that killed… Abu-Akleh.”
Price added that the USSC “found no reason to believe that this was intentional but rather the result of tragic circumstances.”
The US State Department said on Monday that the analysis of the bullet that killed Palestinian journalist Shireen Abu Akleh last May "could not reach a definitive conclusion regarding [its] origin."https://t.co/IM1CvZsuT4 pic.twitter.com/JNhuubWMUI
— The Palestine Chronicle (@PalestineChron) July 4, 2022
In response, the PA insisted that the context in which the crime took place, as well as forensic examination by the General Prosecutor of the State of Palestine and several independent reports, concluded that Israeli occupation soldiers intentionally targeted Shireen Abu Akleh along with other journalists.
“No amount of vagueness or politicization can exonerate the killers, whitewash the crime, or hide the truth,” insisted the PA. “This whitewashing will only further institutionalize Israel’s entrenched impunity, continue to deny the Palestinian people any justice, and threaten the safety and lives of journalists in Palestine.”
B'Tselem: US-Backed Israeli Whitewash
All investigations published so far conclude that Israel is responsible for the killing of journalist Shireen Abu Akleh. It is not clear on what grounds does the US State Department seek to dismiss her killing as > pic.twitter.com/6DSChFVSRS
— B'Tselem בצלם بتسيلم (@btselem) July 4, 2022
For its part, Hamas rejected the findings of the American probe.
“We think that these findings are clearly biased towards the narrative of the Israeli occupation,” said Hamas on its official website. “These findings prove American disregard for Palestinian blood, as the US administration does its best to absolve the Zionists of the consequences of their heinous crime.”
Hamas called for an independent international investigation, and for the case to be taken to the International Criminal Court to confirm the truth and punish the perpetrators of the crime.
(MEMO, PC, Social Media)
