TEL AVIV, The Israeli army decided today not to open a criminal investigation into the killing of al-Jazeera Palestinian-American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh, despite admitting that she was likely “accidentally” killed by an Israeli soldier.
An investigation conducted by the Israeli military found that there is a high possibility that Abu Akleh, 51, was killed by Israeli fire while she was covering a military raid in the occupied West Bank city of Jenin on May 11.
“There is a high possibility that Shireen was accidentally hit by IDF [Israeli army] gunfire,” said the army report.
The report claimed that she could have been shot by Palestinian gunfire even though all independent investigations on the shooting have totally dispelled this claim.
The Israeli army said that the Military Prosecution decided not to open a criminal investigation into Abu Akleh’s killing as there is no suspicion of a criminal offense that would justify the opening of a military police investigation.
On May 11, while covering an Israeli army assault in the northern occupied West Bank refugee camp of Jenin, Abu Akleh, 51, a Palestinian-American journalist from Jerusalem, who worked for al-Jazeera for over 25 years, covering the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, was murdered by a bullet to the head fired by an Israeli sniper.
Source: Palestine News & Info Agency