Israel to test the bullet that killed Al Jazeera reporter, Palestine disagrees
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Israel said that it will test the bullet that killed Al Jazeera reporter Shireen Abu Akleh during an Israeli raid in the occupied West Bank. It was alleged that the Palestinian-American journalist was killed by an Israeli soldier.
The Palestinians handed over the bullet to a US security coordinator yesterday. They claimed to have received assurance that Israel will not participate in the ballistics, reported Reuters.
Israeli military spokesman Brigadier-General Ran Kochav said the ballistic test will not be American but Israeli with an American presence throughout. "In the coming days or hours, it will become clear whether it was even us who killed her. If we killed her, we will take responsibility and feel regret for what happened".
Akram al-Khatib, the general prosecutor for the Palestinian Authority, said the test would take place at the US Embassy in Jerusalem. He said on Voice of Palestine radio that the bullet is expected to be returned on Sunday.
Israeli Deputy Internal Security Minister Yoav Segalovitz said it will take a few days to conduct a ballistic test, with several experts, to ensure that there is an unequivocal assessment.
A US embassy spokesperson said: "We don't have anything new at this time".
A leading journalist in the Arab world Abu Akleh worked for the Arabic-language news channel for 25 years before being killed on May 11. She was known for reporting in the Israeli-occupied Palestinian territories.
After her death at the Jenin refugee camp in the West Bank, Israel alleged that a Palestinian might have killed her. On May 13, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said the journalist may have been killed by either IDF or Palestinian fire.
On June 24, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) concluded that it was an IDF bullet that killed Abu Akleh. The Palestinian Authority (PA) claimed that she was deliberately killed while trying to flee.
During her funeral, the Israeli Police attacked people carrying her coffin with batons. The video of the incident went viral on social media and many condemned the action.