Palestinians Reject US Findings in Al-Jazeera Reporter’s Shooting Death Probe – By Linda Gradstein (VOA News) / July 5, 2022
JERUSALEM — Neither Israelis nor Palestinians are pleased with the U.S. State Department’s conclusion about the shooting death of Al-Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh almost two months ago. Israeli forensic experts analyzed the bullet in the presence of American officials, who have since said the bullet was most likely fired by Israeli soldiers, but it was too damaged to make a conclusive determination.
Ever since Abu Akleh, a Palestinian-American, was shot and killed in the West Bank town of Jenin while Israeli soldiers were carrying out arrests of Palestinians wanted for terrorist attacks, Israel has urged Palestinian Authority officials to turn over the bullet that killed Abu Akleh. The Palestinians have refused, saying they do not believe that Israel can carry out an unbiased investigation.
But over the last few days, under American pressure, the Palestinians surrendered the bullet, and the U.S. supervised an Israeli forensics evaluation.
U.S. officials say the bullet was most likely fired by Israeli soldiers, though the bullet was too damaged to know definitively. Lior Nadivi, an Israeli forensics expert, said he has problems with the U.S. investigation’s conclusions
