JERUSALEM (AP) – As Israel and Palestinians discuss the investigation into the murder of Al Jazeera journalist Shirin Abu Akleh, several independent groups have launched their own investigation. An open source research group said its initial findings support Palestinian Witnesses who claimed he was killed by Israeli fire.
The result of this investigation could contribute to the formation of an international opinion on who was responsible for Abu Aklehi’s death, especially if the official Israeli military investigation is delayed. Israel and the Palestinians are trapped in a war of narratives that Israel has already defended.
Abu Akle, a 25-year American-born Palestinian satellite channel veteran, was killed Wednesday while following an Israeli military offensive at the Jenin refugee camp in the occupied West Bank. It is a name known throughout the Arab world for documenting the hardships of Palestinian life under Israeli leadership for the sixth consecutive decade.
Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said on Sunday that he had spoken to Abu Aklehi’s family to express his condolences and respect for his work, “also calling for an immediate and credible investigation” into his death.
Palestinian officials and witnesses, including reporters with him, say he was killed in a military shootout. The army, after initially claiming it was responsible for Palestinian militants, then withdrew and now claims it may also have been hit by misguided Israeli fire.
Israel called for a joint investigation into the Palestinians and said the bullet would need to be studied by ballistics experts to come to a firm conclusion. Palestinian officials have denied the allegations, saying they do not trust Israel. Human rights groups say Israel has a bad record in investigating the misconduct of its security forces.
Having previously said they would accept an outside partner, the Palestinians said on Sunday that they would personally handle the investigation and get the results as soon as possible.
“We also rejected the international investigation because we are confident in our capabilities as a security institution,” Prime Minister Mohamed stai said. “We will not give any evidence to anyone because we know that these people may be lying about the facts. He is standing with Abu Aklah’s brother, Anton, and the head of Al Jazeera’s local office, Walid al -Omar.
Despite disagreements between the two sides over the Abu Aklekh investigation, several investigations and human rights groups have launched their own investigations.
Over the weekend, Bellingcat, an international consortium of Dutch researchers, posted a review of audio and video evidence collected on social media. The material came from both Palestinian and Israeli military sources, and the review took into account factors such as timestamps, video location, shadows, and forensic audio analysis of the shooting.
The group found that while Israeli militants and soldiers were in the area, the evidence was supported by eyewitness reports that Israeli fire had killed Abu Akle.
“From what we observed, the IDF (Israeli soldiers) are in the closest position and have the clearest view of Abu Akle,” said Giancarlo Fiorella, the lead researcher.
Fiorella admitted that the analysis would not be 100% complete without some evidence such as ammunition, weapons used by the military and GPS locations of Israeli forces. But he said the emergence of additional evidence often reinforces beliefs and almost never destroys them.
“This is what we do when we don’t have access to these elements,” he said.
Israeli human rights group B’Tselem also said it was conducting its own analysis. Last week, the group played a key role in withdrawing the military from its initial claims that Palestinian militants were responsible for his death.
Israel’s claim is based on a video on social media in which a Palestinian gunman jumped himself into Jenin Alley, then other militants fled and were said to have been shot by a soldier. The army said that since the soldiers were not injured that day, the gunmen may have targeted Abu Akleh, who was wearing a protective helmet and jacket.
A B’Tselem investigator arrived at the scene and videotaped Palestinian gunmen 300 meters away from where Abu Akle was shot, with walls and alleys separated from each other.
A spokesman for the group, Dror Sadot, said B’celle had begun collecting testimony and could try to recreate the shooting using videos of the scene. But he said no conclusions can be drawn about who is behind the hunt at this point.
Sadot said any bullet should match the barrel of the gun. The Palestinians refused to release the ammunition and it is unclear whether the military seized the weapons used that day.
“The bullet itself can’t say much,” because it can explode on both sides, he said. “All you can do is compare the lead barrel,” he said.
The Israeli military did not respond to a request for an interview to discuss the status of its investigation.
Jonathan Conricus, a former Israeli army spokesman and military expert, said rebuilding the hunt in densely populated urban terrain was “very difficult” and said forensic evidence such as a bullet was critical to reaching a firm conclusion. He accused the Palestinian Authority of refusing to cooperate for propaganda purposes.
“Without a lead, any investigation will only reach partial and dubious conclusions,” Conricus said. “We can assume this is the Palestinian Authority’s strategy: to deny Israel the opportunity to rehabilitate its name and use global sympathy for the Palestinian cause.”
Newspapers were flooded with police criticism on Sunday and a lack of public relations was reported.
“Friday’s footage is the opposite of proper judgment and patience,” commentator Oded Shalom wrote in the Yediot Ahronot newspaper. “He was shocked by the unbridled cruelty and violence.”
Nir Hasson, who covers the Jerusalem issues for the Haaretz newspaper, said the problems run deeper than the image of Israel.
“This is one of the most intense visual expressions of work and humiliation experienced by the Palestinian people,” he wrote.
Associated Press authors Tia Goldenberg contributed to this report in Tel Aviv, Israel, and Matthew Lim in Berlin.
Source: Huffpost
