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Israel says it will test bullet that killed reporter, Palestinians disagree

July 4, 2022 at 1:53 pm

Egyptian journalists gather to commemorate Al-Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh, who died as a result of fire opened by Israeli soldiers in the Jenin refugee camp, in Cairo, Egypt on May 17, 2022 [Mohamed Abdel Hamid – Anadolu Agency]

Israel said, on Sunday, it would test a bullet that killed a Palestinian-American journalist to determine whether one of its soldiers shot her and said a US observer would be present, Reuters reports.

The Palestinians, who on Saturday handed over the bullet to a US security coordinator, said they had been assured that Israel would not take part in the ballistics.

Washington has yet to comment. The United States has a holiday weekend to mark 4 July.

READ:  Palestine hands bullet that killed Al Jazeera journalist to US for examination

The death of Al Jazeera reporter, Shireen Abu Akleh, on 11 May during an Israeli raid in the occupied West Bank, and feuding between the sides as to the circumstances, have overshadowed a visit by US President Joe Biden, due this month.

Palestinians say the Israeli military deliberately killed Abu Akleh. Israel denies this, saying she may have been hit by errant army fire or by a bullet from one of the Palestinian gunmen who were clashing with its forces at the scene.

In a separate incident, a 17-year-old Palestinian died in hospital after being shot late on Saturday by Israeli soldiers in clash in the West Bank, the Palestinian Health Ministry said. The Israeli army said a suspect had thrown a firebomb at soldiers who, in response, opened fire.

“The (ballistic) test will not be American. The test will be an Israeli test, with an American presence throughout,” said Israeli military spokesman Brigadier-General, Ran Kochav.

“In the coming days or hours it will be become clear whether it was even us who killed her, accidentally, or whether it was the Palestinian gunmen,” he told Army Radio. “If we killed her, we will take responsibility and feel regret for what happened.”

Akram Al-Khatib, General Prosecutor for the Palestinian Authority, said the test would take place at the US Embassy in Jerusalem.

“We got guarantees from the American coordinator that the examination will be conducted by them and that the Israeli side will not take part,” Al-Khatib told Voice of Palestine radio, adding that he expected the bullet to be returned on Sunday.

READ: Israeli forces shoot dead 17-year-old Palestinian

A US embassy spokesperson said: “We don’t have anything new at this time.”

Biden is expected to hold separate meetings with Palestinian and Israeli leaders on his 13-16 July trip to the Middle East. The Abu Akleh case will be a diplomatic and domestic test for new Israeli Prime Minister, Yair Lapid.

“It will take a few days to conduct a ballistic test, with several experts, to ensure that there is an unequivocal assessment,” Israeli Deputy Internal Security Minister, Yoav Segalovitz, told Army Radio.

Israel has said the person who fired the bullet could only be determined by matching it to a gun in a forensic laboratory. Such testing usually requires finding markings on the bullet left by the unique barrel rifling of the gun it was fired from.

The Israeli military previously said one soldier could have been in a position to fire the fatal shot, suggesting it might only consider that soldier’s rifle.