The Israeli Army Military Police do not plan to open a criminal investigation into the death of Palestinian-American Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh last week during a raid in Jenin, north of the occupied West Bank.
Despite the Army acknowledging in its preliminary examination that Akleh could have been killed by Israeli fire, the criminal investigation division of the Military Police will not open an internal investigation in this regard, as published today by the Hebrew daily Haaretz.
Consulted by Efe, the Israeli Army has not confirmed this information, which has already provoked numerous reactions, including that of the Palestinian National Authority (PNA), which today condemned the decision "in its strongest terms."
The Palestinian Foreign Ministry demanded in a statement that Israel indicate "what is the legal basis for such a decision, ignoring dozens of testimonies, evidence and the results of the autopsy."
The veteran journalist died from the impact of a shot to the face while covering an Israeli Army operation on May 11 in the Jenin refugee camp, despite being perfectly identified as a press officer and protected by a vest and helmet.
Both witnesses to the event - most of them fellow journalists - as well as the Al Jazeera chain or the PNA immediately blamed Israeli soldiers for the shot that killed her, while the Israeli government hastened to blame "armed Palestinians" who opened fire on Israeli forces. Israeli security.
In its preliminary report, presented on the same day as Akleh's funeral two days after his death, the Israeli army admitted that there were "two possibilities" as to the source of the deadly bullet: armed Palestinians "who fired hundreds of bullets from various places" ; or an Israeli soldier returning fire at a Palestinian militiaman Akleh was close to.
"The Palestinian gunman fired multiple rounds at the Israeli soldier, and there is a possibility that Abu Akleh, who was close to the Palestinian gunman behind him, was hit by the soldier's shots towards the Palestinians. The distance between the Army vehicle (from which the soldier fired) and Mrs. Abu Akleh was about 200 meters"; admitted the military report.
However, the Army pointed out that without examining the bullet it is impossible to determine who killed it, so it offered a joint investigation to the ANP, which has refused to collaborate with the Israeli authorities, not trusting their impartiality, but has committed to undertaking a "transparent" investigation and even to bringing the case before the International Criminal Court.
"The decision of the occupation army is not surprising and falls within the framework of the usual practices of the Israeli military establishment of burying their execution crimes on the ground without any investigation or attributing them to unidentified persons, in order to protect their criminals," the Palestinian Foreign Ministry said today.
The death of the well-known Al Jazeera journalist has provoked a wave of condemnations from numerous governments and organizations that defend human rights and freedom of the press, who demand an independent investigation.
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