Palestine Won’t Let Israel Evaluate Bullet That Killed Journalist As International Leaders Condemn Killing

Topline

The Palestinian National Authority on Thursday said it would not allow Israel to examine the bullet that killed Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh as a part of Israel’s request for a joint probe into the Palestinian-American reporter’s death, saying Palestine would refer the incident to the International Criminal Court as leaders around the world condemned the killing and called for accountability.

Key Facts

Senior Palestinian Authority official Hussein al-Sheikh wrote in a tweet the Palestinian Authority had refused Israel’s requests for a joint investigation and would make the results of its own investigation public to Abu Akleh’s family, official authorities, the U.S. and Qatar, which owns the Al Jazeera news network.

Al-Sheikh said that all the evidence, including witness testimony, pointed to Abu Akleh’s “assassination by #Israeli special units,” while Palestinian National Authority President Mahmoud Abbas said the killing would be referred to the International Criminal Court to “track down the criminals.”

Al-Sheikh’s remarks come a day after Israel walked back its original claims that Abu Akleh likely died as a result of Palestinian gunfire, claiming later in the day it could not “determine by whose fire she was harmed.”

A spokesperson for the U.S. State Department urged an “immediate and thorough” investigation and called Abu Akleh’s death “an affront to media freedom everywhere.”

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres said he was “appalled” by the killing and also called for an investigation.

Crucial Quote

“We hold the Israeli occupation authorities fully responsible for her killing and they will not be able to conceal the truth with this crime,” Abbas said while paying tribute to Abu Akleh—whom he called a “martyr of the free word”—during a memorial service on Thursday attended by thousands of people.

Key Background

Abu Akleh began working for Al Jazeera in 1997 and was one of the outlet’s first and most well-known field correspondents covering the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The Palestinian-American reporter was killed and another journalist working for the newspaper al-Quds was injured while covering an Israeli raid in the West Bank town of Jenin amid rising tensions in the occupied territory. Israeli forces in recent weeks have stepped up military operations across the occupied West Bank in response to a wave of deadly Palestinian attacks. Al Jazeera, Palestinian officials and the wounded al-Quds reporter said Abu Akleh—who was wearing a blue flak jacket with the word “PRESS” on it—was shot by Israeli security forces. Israel, meanwhile, initially suggested the journalists were hit by Palestinian gunfire. An initial autopsy carried out by the Institute of Pathology at An Najah University Wednesday found Abu Akleh was shot at a range of “more than one meter,” but did not offer conclusions on who fired the bullet.

Surprising Fact

At least 18 journalists have been killed in Israel and Occupied Palestinian Territories since 1992, the Committee to Protect Journalists told Al Jazeera, adding that no one has been held accountable for any of the deaths.

Further Reading

Latest Abu Akleh killing updates: Palestine rejects Israeli probe (Al Jazeera)

Al-Jazeera Journalist Shot And Killed While Covering Israeli Raid In West Bank (Forbes)

Al Jazeera reporter killed during Israeli raid in West Bank (BBC)