- The fatal shots at journalist Shireen Abu Akleh almost four months ago were “very likely” fired by the Israeli military.
- The Israeli army announced this after completing internal investigations.
- However, the reporter from the Arabic television channel Al-Jazeera was never identified as a journalist, said the high-ranking army official.
Abu Akleh was killed by gunfire during an Israeli military operation in the occupied West Bank. Earlier, according to the Israeli military, there was a fierce firefight with dozens of Palestinian militants during an Israeli raid in the city of Jenin.
Report: No suspicion of crime
According to Israeli information, the shots could not be clearly assigned even after the investigation had been completed. Criminal investigations should not be initiated. The military attorney general said: “There is no suspicion of a crime”. According to the military, there is still a possibility that the shots were fired by armed Palestinians.
The death of the woman – who was also a US citizen – caused international consternation. The Palestinian Attorney General blamed Israel and accused the soldiers of deliberately killing the journalist. An investigation in the US concluded that while the fatal bullet was fired by the Israeli military, Abu Akleh was not shot dead intentionally. The funeral of the 51-year-old in Jerusalem was overshadowed by violence.