Israel did not wait for confirmation from the FBI to react. While, according to the American media politics, US federal police are investigating the death of Palestinian-American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh during an Israeli army operation on May 11, Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz on Monday (November 14) called the investigation a” mistake “.
The FBI has refused to confirm or deny the existence of this unusual investigation given the relations between the two countries. It was reportedly undertaken after the Israeli army refused to prosecute the soldier accused of killing her.
“The decision by the US Department of Justice to investigate the tragic death of Shireen Abu Akleh is a mistake”wrote Benny Gantz in a tweet, stating that the Israeli army would not cooperate.
The Israeli armed forces conducted an investigation “independent and professional”and shared details with US officials, he said.
“We will not allow interference”
“I conveyed the message to US representatives that we stand with IDF soldiers and that we will not cooperate with an external investigation, and will not allow interference in internal investigations”added the minister.
Equipped with a bulletproof vest with the mention ” hurry “ and a helmet, the star journalist of the Al-Jazeera channel was shot in the head while covering an Israeli military raid in the Jenin refugee camp, in the West Bank, Palestinian territory occupied by Israel since 1967.
The Israeli army first acknowledged in September that there was “a strong possibility” that the journalist was killed by one of his soldiers. The spokesman for American diplomacy, Ned Price, pointed out at the time “the importance of determining responsibility in this case”to prevent such a tragedy from repeating itself.
But, a few days later, the Israeli Prime Minister at the time, Yaïr Lapid, said he was opposed to the soldier accused of having fired being prosecuted.