Author: orlandol24

The United States concluded Monday that Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh was likely killed by Israeli gunfire and urged accountability, but said there was no reason to believe she was shot intentionally.

Dashing hopes for a result that would be accepted by all sides, the United States said it could not make a “definitive conclusion” on the origin of the bullet that killed the journalist on May 11.

“Ballistic experts determined the bullet was badly damaged, which prevented a clear conclusion,” State Department spokesman Ned Price said in a statement after what he called “extremely detailed forensic analysis” of the bullet reluctantly handed over by the Palestinian Authority.

Abu Akleh, who held US citizenship and was one of the best-known Palestinian journalists, was fatally shot as she covered an Israeli army operation in Jenin in the occupied West Bank despite wearing a vest that said “Press.”

Her death provoked a furor, with the Palestinian Authority alleging she was shot intentionally in what amounted to a war crime — charges angrily denied by Israel, a close US ally which President Joe Biden is visiting in two weeks.

The US Security Coordinator (USSC), which directs security assistance to the Palestinian Authority in coordination with Israel, said that both sides granted full access to their own probes over the past several weeks.

An Al Jazeera journalist shot dead in the occupied West Bank earlier this month was murdered in a “war crime” by an Israeli soldier, an official Palestinian investigation concluded Thursday.

The Palestinian Authority (PA) and Al Jazeera News Today Jazeera have accused Israeli forces of killing Shireen Abu Akleh on May 11 when she was covering an Israeli operation in the West Bank city of Jenin.The television network said Thursday it would submit a case to the International Criminal Court.

Israeli authorities have countered that Abu Akleh could have been killed by stray fire from a Palestinian gunman or mistakenly by an Israeli soldier.

All “proven facts constitute the elements of the crime of murder… according to national laws, they are a war crime and a violation of international laws,” said PA attorney general Akram Al-Khateeb, who presented the investigation findings.

The Palestinian-American journalist, who was wearing a vest marked “Press” and a helmet, was hit by a bullet just below her helmet.

The report said Abu Akleh was killed with a 5.56 millimetre armour piercing round fired from a Ruger Mini-14 rifle.

It added that bullet holes on a nearby tree indicated the “targeting of the upper parts of the body with the aim of killing.”

“All of these facts: the type of projectile, the weapon, the distance, the fact that there were no obstructions to vision and that she was wearing a press jacket lead us to conclude that Abu Akleh was the target of a murder,” Khateeb concluded.

“The only source of fire was the Israeli occupation forces,” he said.

Senior PA official Hussein al-Sheikh said a copy of the report had been sent to US authorities, and copies would be given to Abu Akleh’s family and Al Jazeera.

The Qatar-based network announced soon after that its legal team and international experts were preparing a case to put the ICC prosecutor in The Hague.

It said the case would also include the destruction of Al Jazeera´s office in Gaza in May 2021 in an Israeli raid, as well as other attacks on its journalists in the Palestinian territories.

Article eight of the ICC charter makes it a war crime to target a journalist in a war zone.The ICC last year launched an investigation into war crimes in the Palestinian territories but Israel is not an ICC member and disputes its jurisdiction.

A CNN report published this week, disputed by Israel, also pointed to a deliberate killing, citing the impacts on the tree.

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The niece of slain Palestinian American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh expressed “outrage” Wednesday as US President Joe Biden arrived in Israel, condemning Washington for inaction over her killing.

Lina Abu Akleh watched on television from her home in Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem as Air Force One touched down near Tel Aviv, just over two months after her aunt, a veteran Al Jazeera correspondent, was shot in the head while covering an Israeli army raid in the occupied West Bank.

The United Nations concluded she was killed by Israeli fire in Jenin, while wearing a helmet and vest marked “Press”.The family is adamant she was deliberately targeted, which Israel denies.

Drawing on rival probes by the Israelis and Palestinians, the US State Department concluded on July 4 that she was likely shot from an Israeli military position, but said there was no evidence of intent to kill.

“Sadness, outrage and, just, upset,” said Lina on watching Biden arrive, describing feelings stemming from “the lack of action they (the US) have taken towards the case of Shireen.”

“The amount of power that the US administration has to make a change, yet not taking that political choice to do that, is very frustrating,” said the 27-year-old, dressed in black.

“They either choose their interests with Israel, or they carry out a meaningful effort towards accountability and justice for Shireen,” she added.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken called Lina while en route to Tel Aviv with the president, inviting the family to Washington.

By Simon Lewis

WASHINGTON, July 26 (Reuters) – The family of slain journalist Shireen Abu Akleh demanded justice for the Al Jazeera News Today Jazeera reporter’s killing ahead of a meeting in Washington with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Tuesday.

Lina Abu Akleh, her niece, posted a video on Twitter from outside the State Department saying that she and other family members “are here to demand justice for Shireen.”

Abu Akleh, a Palestinian-American, was killed on May 11 during an Israeli raid in the town of Jenin in the occupied West Bank under circumstances that remain bitterly disputed.

The State Department said this month that Abu Akleh was likely killed by gunfire from Israeli positions but that it was probably unintentional, citing an investigation by the U.S.Security Coordinator.

Abu Akleh’s family and Palestinian officials have criticized the report and maintained she was deliberately targeted. Israel denies this.

“We will pursue accountability for her murder wherever it may take us,” said a statement on Twitter from Lina, Shireen’s brother Tony and nephew Victor. “Shireen lived to uncover the truth behind every story, and so shall we.”

The State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The family had accused the United States of providing impunity for Israel over her killing.They unsuccessfully requested a meeting with President Joe Biden in person during his trip to Israel this month.

(Reporting by Simon Lewis; Editing by Howard Goller)