Israeli and non-American experts will examine the bullet that killed Palestinian-American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh in May to determine the circumstances of her death, the Israeli army said on Sunday.
On Saturday, Palestinian prosecutor Akram Al-Khatib said the fatal bullet to the Al Jazeera TV journalist who was killed on May 11 while covering an Israeli military operation in the occupied West Bank had been handed over to the United States for an expert by American experts.
The Palestinian Authority has always refused to hand over the bullet to the Israeli army accused of killing the journalist by the Palestinian authorities, Al Jazeera, Qatar and the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.
“If we killed her, we will take responsibility for it”
"The test will not be American, the test will be an Israeli test with an American presence," military spokesman Ran Kochav told Army Radio.
“We are awaiting the results, if we killed her, we will take responsibility,” he added, without specifying whether or not the expertise had started.
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Who was Shireen Abu Akleh, star journalist killed in the West Bank?
The Palestinian Authority did not immediately officially comment on the Israeli statements, but a Palestinian official said on condition of anonymity that they raised questions about whether the Americans could be "trusted". .
Palestinian sources in Ramallah, the seat of the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank, said on Saturday that the expertise would be carried out at the United States Embassy in Jerusalem by American experts.
Journalistic Investigations Point to Israeli Soldier
According to the Palestinian investigation, the star journalist of Al Jazeera was killed by a 5.56 mm caliber bullet fired by an Israeli soldier who used an M-14, a semi-automatic weapon.
Journalistic investigations have also pointed in the direction of the Israeli army.
Israel has denied all of these accusations.
The Israeli army keeps saying that it is “impossible to determine whether (the journalist) was killed by a Palestinian gunman firing indiscriminately in the area where she was, or inadvertently by an Israeli soldier”.
She also called many times, but in vain, the Palestinian Authority to give her the fatal bullet, the only way according to the military to really determine who fired.
The Palestinians had asked the Israelis to hand over the suspect weapon to them.
The journalist was wearing a bulletproof jacket with the word 'press' written on it and a protective helmet when she was hit by a bullet just below the cut of her helmet, outside the Jenin refugee camp in the West Bank , Palestinian territory occupied by Israel since 1967.
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