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Mural for slain journalist Shireen Abu Akleh in Gaza City
Photo: Adel Hana/AP
The fatal shooting of journalist Shireen Abu Akleh in the West Bank in May heightened tensions between Israelis and Palestinians.
Investigations into responsibility for the reporter's death became a political issue, and riots broke out at her funeral.
Now Israel's armed forces also see a bullet from a military member as a plausible cause of Abu Akleh's death.
The shots in the raid on the city of Jenin nearly four months ago were "very likely" fired by the Israeli military, a senior army official said after completing internal investigations.
"There is a high probability that she was accidentally hit by military shots."
However, the reporter from the Arabic television channel Al-Jazeera was never identified as a journalist.
According to the Israeli military, there was a fierce firefight with dozens of militant Palestinians during the operation in Jenin.
According to Al Jazeera, Abu Akleh wore a bulletproof vest with the inscription "Press" and a protective helmet during the operation.
Israel does not want to open a criminal investigation
However, the Israeli military still does not see any clear responsibility for the death of the journalist.
The shots could therefore not be clearly assigned even after the investigation had been completed, it said.
Criminal investigations should not be initiated.
The military chief prosecutor said: "There is no suspicion of a crime." The military continues to consider it conceivable 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.
fek/dpa/AP
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