The U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation has launched an investigation into the killing of Shireen Abu Akleh, the veteran Al Jazeera reporter who was shot and killed in May during a firefight between Israeli troops and Palestinian terrorists, prompting outrage from Israel which has said it will not cooperate.
Prime Minister Yair Lapid on Wednesday forcefully rejected the U.S.’ call for Israel to change its rules of engagement after the death of Al Jazeera reporter Shireen Abu Akleh during a firefight between the IDF and Palestinian terrorists, saying “no one would dictate” Israel’s open fire policy.
An Arab-Israeli journalist was shot dead in his car in northern Israel on Sunday evening, the apparent motive being his reporting on organized crime in the country’s Arab sector.
An Israeli official on Tuesday said the bullet handed over by the Palestinian Authority to American officials for forensic testing may not have been the actual bullet that killed veteran Al Jazeera reporter Shireen Abu Akleh.
Ballistic analysis of the bullet that killed veteran Al Jazeera reporter Shireen Abu Akleh in May was inconclusive, the U.S. State Department said on Monday, but added it was “likely” an Israeli soldier mistakenly fired the fatal shot.
The Palestinian Authority said on Saturday it would transfer the bullet that killed veteran Al Jazeera reporter Shireen Abu Akleh to American officials for forensic testing, in the hopes of identifying whether the fatal shot fired was from an Israeli soldier or a Palestinian gunman.
CNN said Tuesday its own inquiry into the death of Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh earlier this month found she may have been deliberately targeted by Israeli troops, a charge the Israeli military described as “entirely unfounded.”
Pro-Palestinian and socialist activists gathered in London over the weekend to condemn what they called the “apartheid state” of Israel.
Senior Palestinian official Jibril Rajoub called Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett a “Nazi, like Goebbels,” and accused the Israeli premier of “giving the order” to kill Al-Jazeera reporter Shireen Abu Akleh in an interview with the network.
President Joe Biden’s administration has protested to the Israeli government over the alleged conduct of Israeli police during the funeral Friday of Palestinian-American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh, who was shot covering clashes earlier this week.
Clashes erupted between Palestinians and Israeli police during the funeral procession for slain Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh on Friday in Jerusalem, causing police to react by rushing the procession. The casket nearly fell over during the resulting melée.
The Palestinian Authority said on Thursday it had refused Israel’s request to conduct a joint investigation into the death of veteren Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh a day earlier, and would not hand over the bullet to Israeli authorities to conduct a ballistic analysis.
