Ramallah, West Coast (AP) – Thousands of people gathered to mourn Al Jazeera journalist killed in the occupied West Bank city of Ramallah on Thursday, the Palestinian Authority chief blamed Israel for its death and denied requests of Israel for a joint investigation.
Shirin Abu Akle, Palestinian-American journalist who has been following the conflict in the Middle East for more than 25 years. Shot on Wednesday During the Israeli military offensive on the west coast in the city of Jenin. The journalists who accompanied him, including one shot and wounded, said Israeli forces fired at them, even though they were clearly identified as journalists.
Israel said it was investigating the incident. He initially suggested that he may have been shot by Palestinian militants without evidence, but has since retreated. Israel is calling for a joint investigation with the Palestinian Authority, which manages parts of the West Bank and cooperates with it on security issues.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas angrily rejected the proposal, saying “we accept full responsibility for Israel’s occupation of his country”.
“They cannot hide this crime,” Abbas said in an appeal as his body lay under the Palestinian flag in the West Bank city of Ramallah, the seat of the Palestinian Authority.
“They committed the crime and since we do not trust them, we will immediately go to the International Criminal Court,” Abbas said.
ICC An investigation was launched A year ago into possible war crimes in Israel. Israel rejected this investigation as bias against it.
Hussein al-Sheikh, Abbas’s senior aide, said the Palestinians would conduct their own independent investigations and deliver the results with “high transparency”. He rejected Israel’s request to conduct its own ballistic analysis on the ammunition.
Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett accused the Palestinians of refusing to give Israel “access to the basic conclusions necessary to achieve justice”. He called on the Palestinian Authority not to “take steps to stop the investigation or to stop the investigation.”
Abu Akley was killed while covering up the Israeli military offensive in Jenin He has emerged as a stronghold of the fighters In recent weeks, as the Palestinians have carried out a series of deadly attacks and Israel has launched an offensive of military in the occupied West Bank.
Qatar -based Al Jazeera accused Israel of his deliberate killing and vowed to take legal action. Reporters with him said there were no Palestinian fighters in the area.
Israeli officials had earlier suggested that Abu Akleh fired at the militants and released a video showing Israeli armed forces shooting into a narrow alley in the Jenin refugee camp. They later withdrew after an Israeli human rights group posted their own video showing the shooting scene just a few hundred meters away where Abu Akle was killed.
His death was followed by pain for the entire Arab world. The 51-year-old is known as a veteran correspondent for Al Jazeera’s Arabic-language channel. His report sheds light on the harsh reality of the Israeli military government, which has been in place for six decades and seems unfinished. He is also an American citizen.
His body will be flown to Jerusalem on Friday for burial, where he was born.
The murder has sparked international condemnation and widespread demands for accountability. UN Secretary -General Antonio Guterres called for “an independent and transparent investigation” to bring those responsible to justice.
Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz promised Wednesday that he would conduct such an investigation, saying he was in contact with U.S. and Palestinian officials and hoped for cooperation between Israel and the Palestinians.
“We’re trying to figure out what happened,” he said. “I have no final conclusion”.
Abu Akleh’s death could lead to a new study of Israel’s military justice system, which is considered part of the ICC investigation. It also threatened further tensions, often damaging relations between the military and the international media.
His death occurred in a wave of Israeli-Palestinian violence triggered by tensions in Jerusalem’s main holy site.
At least 18 people have been killed in Palestinian attacks in recent weeks, as well as more than 30 Palestinians, most of them involved in attacks or clashes with Israeli forces. Among the Palestinians killed was an unarmed woman and at least two apparent passers -by, sparking criticism in Israel. Use too much force often.
Krauss’s report from Jerusalem. Associated Press writer Ilan Ben Zion contributed to Jerusalem.
Source: Huffpost
