The Palestinian Authority said on Saturday it had given the bullet that killed Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh to US forensic experts, who had taken a step to resolve a battle with Israel over the investigation into her death.
Abu Akleh, a veteran correspondent known throughout the Arab world, was fatally shot while covering an Israeli military attack on May 11 in the Jenin refugee camp in the occupied West Bank.
The Palestinians, along with Abu Akleh’s colleagues who were with her at the time, say she was killed by Israeli gunfire.
The Israeli army says she was caught in the crossfire of a fight with Palestinian armed men, and that it is impossible to determine which side killed her without analyzing the bullet. The Palestinians refused to turn the bullet, saying they did not trust Israel.
Palestinian Attorney General Akram al-Khatib said the bullet was given to US experts “for technical work”. He reiterated the Palestinian refusal to share the bullet with the Israelis.
Al-Khatib said the Palestinians welcomed the participation of any international bodies to “help us confirm the truth.”
“We are confident and confident of our investigations and the results we have achieved,” he said.
It was not immediately clear what the American experts could discover without also studying the Israeli weapon that, according to Israel, may have fired the shot. There was no immediate word from Israel as to whether they would share the gun.
The Palestinian announcement comes just over a week before President Joe Biden visits the region.
A Palestinian official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he had discussed a diplomatic matter, said the issue was raised in a phone call between Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Foreign Minister Antony Blinken and that both sides hoped to resolve the issue before Biden’s visit. .
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