USA: It is not possible to determine with certainty whether the bullet that killed Abu Akala was shot by the IDF

The Palestinians agreed to hand over the bullet to the United States in the expectation that the results of the ballistic test would indicate that Abu Akala was shot by IDF soldiers. bad

Lightning Ravid

04/07/2022

Monday, 04 July 2022, 13:46 Updated: 16:52

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In the video: The funeral of al-Jazeera reporter Shirin Abu Akla who was shot in Jenin (Photo: Reuters)

The United States announced today (Monday) that after a ballistic inspection of a bullet removed from the body of Palestinian-American journalist Sheerin Abu Akla, it is not possible to determine with certainty whether it was fired from weapons used by IDF soldiers during the battle of the Jenin refugee camp on May 11. The US State Department said in a statement that the main cause of the incident was that the bullet had been crushed and that it was in a bad condition

.

According to him, the conclusion of the American security coordinator as a result of a summary of the investigations that took place on both sides is that IDF songs are most likely the cause of Abu-Akla's death.

"The US Security Coordinator found no reason to believe the shooting was intentional, but that it was the result of tragic circumstances during the Israeli army's operation against Islamic Jihad operatives," the State Department said in a statement.

"The United States appreciates and continues to encourage cooperation between Israel and the Palestinian Authority regarding this incident. We will continue our contacts with both sides and call for accountability in the affair."

"The bullet was crushed and in poor condition."

Abu Akala (Photo: Official Website, from Facebook)

why is it important

• The US administration wanted to end the investigation into the incident in which Sheerin Abu-Akla was killed before President Biden arrived in the region amid political pressure on the White House by many senators in the Democratic Party.

• However, the unclear result could lead to the opposite result and instead of closing the affair before the president's visit, increase criticism of the White House by the left wing of the Democratic Party.

• The test results could also adversely affect the president's visit to the Palestinian Authority on July 15.

  The Palestinians agreed to hand over the bullet to the United States in the expectation that the results of the ballistic test would indicate that Abu Akala had been shot by IDF soldiers.

More on Walla!

The Palestinians handed over to the United States the bullet from which al-Jazeera journalist was killed

To the full article

In the news

• On Saturday, the Palestinians handed the bullet to the American security coordinator, General Mike Penzel.

  The bullet was transferred on Sunday to a forensic laboratory of the Israel Police in Jerusalem.

• The bullet tests were performed in the presence of the American security coordinator and an American ballistics expert.

  A DNA test was first performed on the bullet to make sure that it was indeed a bullet that had been removed from Abu Akala's body.

• The ballistic test was then performed using an attempt to match the bullet to the weapon used by one of the "Cherry" unit soldiers during the operation.

Behind the Scenes

• The inspection was completed on Sunday evening and its conclusions were communicated to the US administration, Israel and the Palestinian leadership on Sunday night.

  The publication of the conclusions was delayed due to the late hour.

reminder

• Both Israel and the Palestinian Authority have conducted investigations into the death of Sheerin Abu Akala.

• The IDF investigation determined that there was a possibility that an IDF soldier fired from a slit in the jeep at a suspect who was standing near Abu Akla, who caused her death unintentionally.

• According to the IDF investigation, it is not possible to determine with certainty who fired at Abu Akala without a ballistic examination of the bullet removed from her body in front of the rifles used by the soldiers during the incident.

• The Palestinian Authority's investigation determined that it was IDF soldiers who killed Abu Akla. However, the evidence on which the Palestinian investigation was based was purely circumstantial.

• Investigations by Al-Jazeera, the Washington Post, the New York Times and the Associated Press in recent weeks have determined that the evidence suggests that Abu-Akla was apparently killed by IDF soldiers.

• Despite the various investigations, a ballistic test was needed to try and finally verify from which weapon the bullet that killed Abu Akala was fired.

• The Palestinians initially refused to give the bullet removed from Abu Akala's body to Israel to perform a ballistic test against the rifles used by the soldiers.

  They claimed that they did not trust the Israeli investigation.

• After heavy American pressure that lasted several weeks and included talks by the US Secretary of State in Linken with Palestinian President Abu Mazen, the Palestinians finally agreed to hand over the bullet to the Americans over the weekend.

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Tags

• Jenin

• United States

• Bullets

• Palestinian Authority