Al Jazeera releases image of bullet killed Shireen Abu Aqleh
It identified the bullet as a US-made 5.56mm bullet fired from an M4 rifle commonly used by Israeli forces. The Israeli army claims that Palestinian militants use the same ammunition.
The military released its own image of sacks of bullets said to have been confiscated in a raid last month. The bullets in the two images appear identical, with the green mark at the tips.
Al Jazeera did not say how he obtained the alleged image of the bullet, which is held by the Palestinian Authority. The image shows what appears to be an exhausted curved bullet in a clear plastic container labeled with a red marker.
An Associated Press reconstruction of the shooting supports reports from Palestinian witnesses that Abu Akleh was shot by Israeli forces but did not reach a definitive conclusion. Al Jazeera and the Palestinian Authority have accused Israel of targeting her, which Israel categorically denies.
The Israeli army says she was killed during a complex military operation in which troops exchanged fire with Palestinian militants. She says that only a sophisticated ballistic analysis of the bullet could determine whether it was fired by an Israeli soldier or a militant.
The Palestinian Authority says it has overwhelming evidence that Israel was responsible and refused to hand over the bullet for analysis or to cooperate in any way with Israel. Her own investigation found that she was killed by a 5.56mm bullet fired from a Ruger Mini-14 semi-automatic rifle.
Israel claims to have identified the army rifle that could have fired the fatal bullet, but would need to analyze the bullet to come to a definitive conclusion. He gave no details on the rifle.
Abu Akleh, a 51-year-old Palestinian-American, was a widely respected air correspondent for Al Jazeera’s Arabic-language report covering the Israeli-Palestinian conflict for more than 25 years.
