Shirin Abu Akleh: Israel offers Palestinians joint investigation

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Members of the Palestinian Union of Journalists take part in a demonstration

Photo: Mohammed Talatene / dpa

In the case of the journalist Shirin Abu Akleh, who was shot dead in the occupied West Bank, Israel's Foreign Minister Jair Lapid offered the Palestinians a joint investigation and autopsy.

Abu Akleh's employer Al Jazeera and the Palestinian leadership accuse Israeli soldiers of having shot the 51-year-old.

Abu Akleh was killed in clashes between Palestinians and Israeli security forces in the occupied West Bank on Wednesday morning.

The circumstances of the death are disputed between the two sides.

According to the news channel, Abu Akleh was hit by a shot from the Israeli side.

A photographer from the AFP news agency also reported on the shots fired by the Israeli army and saw the journalist's body lying on the ground.

Al Jazeera accuses the Israeli soldiers of "murdering in cold blood" Abu Akleh.

Abbas: "Crime of Execution"

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas spoke of a "crime of execution".

The Palestinian Ministry of Health had announced that the journalist - who was also a US citizen - had been fatally wounded in the head by gunfire.

Another journalist who also works for Al Jazeera was shot in the incident.

He said, according to the Palestinian news agency Wafa, that he and other journalists had been targeted by Israeli soldiers.

These would have hit him and Abu Akleh.

The soldiers knew that there were only journalists and no armed men at the place where they were.

All journalists wore press vests.

An Israeli army spokesman said the military had launched a thorough investigation into the incident.

Soldiers were there to arrest a member of the Islamist Hamas organization.

"Dozens of armed Palestinians fired on the troops," he said.

They ruthlessly fired shots in different directions.

In three cases there were direct firefights around the time the journalist was killed.

The soldiers fired back in the direction the gun was fired from and hits were confirmed, the army said.

They are investigating the possibility that the journalists were hit by armed Palestinians.

"The Israeli army would never intentionally shoot at innocent bystanders," said a spokesman.

The European Union, the UN, the USA and Germany, among others, have called for an independent investigation into the incident.

According to the Palestinian Ministry of Health, more than 20 Palestinians have been killed since the end of March.

Several Palestinians were killed in their own attacks, but also in clashes with the Israeli army.

Israel conquered the West Bank and East Jerusalem in 1967.

The Palestinians, on the other hand, want the areas for a separate state of Palestine with East Jerusalem as the capital.

svs/dpa/AFP/Reuters