Agencies-Gaza post
Israel will test bullet killed journalist, Palestinians disagree
Israel said Sunday it would test a bullet that killed a Palestinian-American journalist to determine if one of its soldiers shot her and said a US observer would be present for the procedure which could provide results within a few hours.
The Palestinians, who handed the bullet to a US security coordinator on Saturday, said they were assured that Israel would not take part in the ballistics.
Washington has yet to comment. The United States has a public holiday weekend to celebrate July 4th.
The May 11 death of Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh during an Israeli raid in the occupied West Bank, and the feud between the parties over the circumstances, overshadowed a visit by US President Joe Biden scheduled for this month.
The Palestinians accuse the Israeli army of deliberately killing her. Israel denies this, saying Abu Akleh may have been hit by fire from the wandering army or one of the Palestinian gunmen who were clashing with his forces.
“The (ballistic) test will not be American. The test will be an Israeli test, with an American presence everywhere, ”said Israeli military spokesman, Brigadier General Ran Kochav.
“In the next few days or hours it will be clear whether it was we who killed her accidentally, or if it was the Palestinian gunmen,” he told Army Radio. “If we killed her, we will take responsibility and regret what happened.”
Akram Al-Khatib, PA attorney general, said the test will take place at the US embassy in Jerusalem.
“We have received assurances from the American coordinator that the examination will be conducted by them and that the Israeli side will not take part,” Al-Khatib told Voice of Palestine radio, adding that he expected the bullet to be returned on Sunday.
An embassy spokesperson said: “We don’t have anything new right now.”
Biden is expected to hold separate meetings with Palestinian and Israeli leaders from July 13-16. The Abu Akleh case will be a diplomatic and internal test for the new Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid.
Israeli Deputy Minister of Homeland Security Yoav Segalovitz said Lapid had been involved in “handling the arrival and transfer of this bullet”.
“It will take a few days to conduct a ballistics test, with several experts, to ensure there is an unambiguous assessment,” Segalovitz told Army Radio.
