RAMALLAH, The Foreign Affairs and Expatriates Ministry today decried Israel’s failure to hold police accountable for the violent crackdown on the funeral procession of slain Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh.

The Ministry said in a press statement that the Israeli police statement on the conclusion of an internal investigation into the conduct of police officers at the funeral procession of Abu Akleh, but without publicizing the findings and without disciplining the police officers is nothing but a smokescreen to conceal the crime, promote a fair portrayal of police, and shield the perpetrators from accountability.

It added that such an investigation is also designed to disguise the truth about the extrajudicial killing of Abu Akleh and circumvent the international pressures that have rightfully been exerted upon the occupation authorities to open a fair and transparent investigation into the killing.

The Ministry held the Israeli government, headed by ultra-nationalist Naftali Bennett, directly and fully responsible for the killing of Abu Akleh while expressing extreme amazement at US and international calls for Israel to open an investigation into the crime.

It concluded that the occupation authorities have to name and arrest the perpetrators and bring them to justice through credible, fair and transparent trials.

Source: Palestine News & Info Agency