JERUSALEM: The bullet that killed Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh has been handed over to a US team of forensic experts, Palestinian officials said.
The move is a step forward in potentially resolving heightened tensions between Palestinian and Israeli officials over the veteran correspondent’s death.
The Palestinian attorney general, Akram al-Khatib, said the bullet was handed over to US experts for a technical examination.
The Palestinian Authority received assurances from the US that no modifications would be made to the bullet and that it would be returned once the assessment was complete, al-Khatib told media.
While acquiring the bullet is a step forward, the analysis by the US team is likely to be difficult without examining the weapon that fired the bullet, as media reported.
Typical forensic ballistic analysis would rely on examining both the suspected firearm and the projectile, usually by test-firing other bullets from the same weapon and then comparing the markings left on those with ones from the crime scene.
The announcement also comes just over a week before US President Joe Biden is due to visit the region. Abu Akleh, a Palestinian-American journalist, was a long-time correspondent for the Qatar-based broadcaster Al Jazeera and was renowned for her reporting in the Middle East.
Her death sparked outrage and condemnation as the journalist had been covering an Israeli military operation in the city of Jenin in the Palestinian territories when she was killed on May 11.
She had also been wearing a protective helmet and vest with the word “PRESS” written on it. Her colleague Ali Sammoudi was also wounded.
Tensions heightened further when video footage of Israeli security forces attacking the pallbearers carrying Abu Akleh’s coffin at her funeral went viral days after her death.
Israel offered to launch a joint investigation into the incident with Palestinian authorities, but this offer was rejected.
The Israeli Defense Force (IDF) says the journalist was caught in the crossfire during clashes between Israeli forces and Palestinian gunmen. They’ve requested to examine the bullet, saying it is crucial to determining which side fired the fatal shot. Palestinian officials have repeatedly turned down the request. On June 26, the UN Human Rights Office (OHCHR) said its independent investigation into the killing of the Abu Akleh found that it was the responsibility of Israeli forces.
“All information we have gathered including official information from the Israeli military and the Palestinian Attorney-General is consistent with the finding that the shots that killed Abu Akleh and injured her colleague Ali Sammoudi came from Israeli Security Forces and not from indiscriminate firing by armed Palestinians, as initially claimed by Israeli authorities,” the OHCHR said in a statement.
Responding to the UN assessment, the IDF rejected the insinuation that Abu Akleh had been killed on purpose, saying “the journalist was not shot intentionally in any way.”
The IDF has previously said the bullet could have been fired by one of their soldiers but that the circumstances were unclear.
Moreover, A 68-year-old Palestinian woman has died in an Israeli prison, six months after she was arrested by Israeli forces near a military checkpoint in Hebron in the occupied West Bank, according to media.
Saadia Farajallah, who was reportedly suffering from multiple chronic illnesses, including high blood pressure and diabetes, was held in the Israeli Damon prison since her detention in December 2021.
Farajallah was arrested near the Ibrahimi Mosque in the southern West Bank city of Hebron for allegedly attempting a stabbing attack.
Palestinian factions and human rights organisations denounced Farajallah’s death, saying she died because of the Israeli policy of medical negligence practised against Palestinian political prisoners.
The Palestinian Authority (PA), which governs the occupied West Bank, has demanded an autopsy of Farajallah, a mother of eight, from the town of Idna in the south of the West Bank, as per media reports.
The Palestinian Prisoners’ Club, a rights group that advocates for Palestinians held in Israeli custody, said the circumstances behind her death remain unknown. Detainees said she lost consciousness after performing her ablutions for morning prayers, after which she was immediately transferred to the prison’s clinic, where she died, according to the Prisoners’ Club.
On June 28, Farajallah attended a court hearing in a wheelchair when the prosecution sought a five-year prison sentence and a fine of 15,000 sheqalim ($4,200), according to the Prisoners’ Club.
Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayya denounced Farajallah’s death, holding the Israeli occupation authorities fully responsible for it.
Shtayya called on the international human rights organisations to open an investigation into the circumstances of her death and to press the occupation authorities to release all the female and sick prisoners.
The Palestinian Foreign Ministry also called for an international investigation.
Farajallah is the 230th Palestinian to die while in Israeli imprisonment or detention since 1967.
There are 4,700 Palestinians currently held in Israeli prisons, including 32 women and 170 children, according to the Palestinian prisoners’ rights group Addameer.
About 640 prisoners are held under “administrative detention”, a policy that allows Israel to hold detainees without charge or trial.
