Identification Of Rifles Used To Shoot Journalist Shireen Abu Akleh, Israel Asks Palestinians To Submit Ammunition For Analysis
JAKARTA - An Israeli military authority official said it may have identified the weapon used in the shooting of Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh.
A military official said the source of the shots that fired the veteran journalist, who has been covering the West Bank area, was still unclear
"But we have narrowed down the IDF weapons that may have been involved in the firefight near Shireen," the official said, citing The National News, May 20.
Meanwhile, the AP reported that Israel had asked Palestinians to turn in the bullets for analysis.
Shireen Abu Akleh was shot dead on May 11, while covering an Israeli military offensive in the occupied West Bank. Palestinian officials, along with fellow journalists who were with Abu Akleh, said Israeli troops stationed nearby killed him.
Meanwhile, the Israeli army said he was shot during fighting between Palestinian troops and gunmen, but said it could not be determined who fired the fatal bullet without proper analysis. Israel has called for a joint investigation with the Palestinians.
Meanwhile, the Palestinians have refused to hand over the bullet, saying they don't trust Israel. Instead, they say they are conducting their own investigation, ready to cooperate with any country except Israel.
The military last week released the results of a preliminary investigation that offered two possible causes of death. It said in one scenario, he might have been hit by Palestinian fire during a fierce exchange of fire with Israeli forces.
The second, it said he may have been shot by an Israeli soldier who fired through a "designated firing hole" in a military vehicle, at a Palestinian gunman who opened fire on the vehicle. It said it was unable to determine the source of the fire without analyzing the bullet.
Military officials confirmed that investigators had shifted their focus to a specific weapon.
He said that if the Palestinians cooperated with the investigation, Israel would "be able to compare the bullets with the barrel and check if there is a match." He spoke on condition of anonymity under military briefing guidelines.
The Palestinians have carried out their own investigation. Last Friday, the Palestinian public prosecutor said preliminary findings showed Abu Akleh was killed by deliberate fire from Israeli forces. Prosecutors said the investigation would continue.
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Separately, Bellingcat, an independent open-source research firm based in the Netherlands, has carried out its own analysis of material gathered mostly from videos on social media. It said its initial findings lend support to Palestinian witnesses who say he was killed by Israeli gunfire.
Abu Akleh, a Palestinian-American and 25-year Al Jazeera veteran, died at the Jenin refugee camp in the northern West Bank. He is admired throughout the Arab world, known for documenting the hardships of Palestinian life under Israeli rule, now in his sixth decade.
The shooting drew condemnation and expressions of concern from around the world. Israel has also been heavily criticized for the behavior of its police, who pushed and beat mourners at the Abu Akleh cemetery last Friday, causing the pallbearers to nearly drop the coffin.