The Israeli army admitted Monday for the first time that one of his troops was likely to shoot Palestinian-American reporter Shireen Abu Akleh after Salah thought he was a militant. “It is most likely that Abu Akleh was accidentally beaten by IDF (Israeli Defense Forces) who was fired at the suspect identified as an armed Palestinian armed person,” said the Army’s latest investigation report on his death on May 11.
The confession came after months in which the army insisted it was not possible to determine the source of deadly shots that killed the famous Al Jazeera journalist in the western edge occupied, saying it could be a militant shot. “Our conclusion is that it is impossible to firmly determine which shots killed him, but there is a higher possibility that he was beaten by the wrong injection of an IDF soldier who did not identify him as a journalist,” said an Israeli Senior Military Officer.
Abu Akleh wore a bulletproof vest marked with a “press” and a helmet when he was shot in his head during the operation of the Israeli army. The Abu Akleh family said that Israel had “refused to be responsible for the murder of” journalists, in a press release issued after the army report. “We remain very injured, frustrated and disappointed,” said the family, calling for a “credible” US investigation.
The Palestinian authority accused Israel of killing reporters in the Jenin refugee camp, in the North West Bank, while Israel insisted that even if a soldier fired the fatal shot was unintentional. Al-Jazeera said that his party condemned the findings of Israeli investigation and demanded an investigation by “Independent International Agency”.
“Al Jazeera condemned the reluctance of the Israeli occupation forces to explicitly recognize their crime and efforts to avoid the prosecution of the perpetrators,” he said in a statement.
‘Call for accountability’ On Monday, senior army officers told reporters that the soldiers were under heavy shots and aimed at hitting Abu Akleh because they had thought he was a Palestinian militant. “When they shot at him, they did not know he was a journalist, it was a mistake, they thought they fired on the terrorists who fired at them,” the officer said.
“He regretted it about it and I also apologize about it,” said the officer about the soldier who shot at Abu Akleh. “He did not do it intentionally, it was really clear,” he added. But New York -based committee to protect critical journalists against Army reports. “The acceptance of guilt was late and incomplete. They did not give a name to the killer Shireen Abu Akleh and there was no other information other than his own testimony that the murder was a mistake,” said Sherif Mansour, Coordinator of the Middle East and North African CPJ programs.
The Israeli Rights Group B’Tsem, a campaigner against the expansion of the Israeli settlement, condemned the army report as “Whitewash”. The murder is “not wrong, that’s a policy”, he said. The UN investigation concluded in June that “There is no evidence of activity by the armed Palestinians close” when Abu Akleh was shot. The United States on July 4 said he was likely to be shot by Israeli fire but there was no evidence of his intentional murder and that the bullet was too damaged due to conclusive findings.
After the release of the Army Report on Monday, a spokesman for the Department of Foreign Affairs Ned Price said: “We welcome the Israeli review of this tragic incident, and once again underline the importance of accountability in this case, such as policies and procedures to prevent similar incidents from happening in the future . “The US statement in July made the Abu Akleh family angry and Palestinian leaders who accused Washington failed to find accountability from Israel for the killing of journalists, who also held US citizenship.
We continue to call for accountability and for justice for Shireen, “Lina Abu Akleh, a journalist’s nephew, said in Washington after meeting with US Secretary Antony Blinken. In May, Israeli military advocates said there was no suspicion of criminal activity since the event took place in the active battle zone. Military advocates said on Monday that the state of the incident “did not cause suspicion of crimes committed which would justify the opening of a criminal investigation”.