Coffin carrying veteran journalist’s body shown falling as Israeli police beat mourners with batons

Mourners had marched from Jerusalem's Jaffa Gate to Mount Zion cemetery. They had been met with violence on the St. Joseph hospital advanced by Israeli police when they tried to carry Abu Akleh's coffin, which Al Jazeera footage confirmed being rocked and then falling out of the fingers of a number of the pallbearers, as Israeli police beat them with batons.

Crowds walked behind as Abu Akleh's rose-covered coffin was carried by pallbearers and lain all the way down to rest next to her mother and father' grave. Church bells echoed by means of the cemetery.

The burial was taking place a day after a memorial procession that brought thousands to the West Bank city of Ramallah.

Mourners flocked to the city's streets on Friday and huddled in front of St. Joseph hospital in East Jerusalem, the place Abu Akleh's body remained till the burial. Muslims performed Friday prayers and mourners chanted "walking, walking on foot," demanding that Abu Akleh's coffin be carried and transported on foot from the hospital to the Greek Catholic church, the place a service will be held, after which to the burial website. Israeli police were lined exterior the hospital, in accordance with CNN reporters. Police roadblocks were set up across the hospital.

Mourners carried Abu Akleh's coffin out of the hospital, but had been met with robust resistance from Israeli police who compelled them to move the physique by automobile. A flash bomb and tear gas had been fired, in response to CNN reporters.

Al Jazeera stay footage showed Israeli police beating mourners with batons as they struggled to carry Abu Akleh's coffin. The physique was in flip introduced back contained in the hospital after which transported by automobile, mentioned Al Jazeera.

Footage on social media and Al Jazeera confirmed Abu Akleh's coffin being rocked backwards and forwards and then falling as Israeli police beat pallbearers with batons. It was not instantly clear if the coffin hit the bottom.

Israeli police in an announcement said that "tons of of rioters started to disrupt public order, even earlier than the funeral started," as they labored to secure the procession.

"Lots of of people gathered outside the French hospital (St. Joseph hospital) in Sheikh Jarrah and started chanting nationalist incitement," added the statement.

"In direction of the exit of the casket from the hospital, rioters started throwing stones towards the policemen from the French hospital plaza, and the policemen had been forced to behave."

Thousands had been packed inside and outdoors the church as Abu Akleh's physique arrived. Girls have been heard ululating in mourning and priests sang Christian hymns in Arabic as the coffin, draped in Palestinian flags, was carried by the crowd.

The circumstances of her demise stay unclear. The Palestinian Authority on Thursday denied Israel's offer of a joint investigation, insisting on an unbiased process and vowing to attempt those accused of her killing to the Worldwide Criminal Courtroom (ICC).

Palestinian Prime Minister Mohamed Shtayyeh advised Al Jazeera on Thursday that the results of their investigation will probably be released soon and can embrace the post-mortem report.

Israeli military investigators confiscated the weapons of some IDF troops as a part of their inquiry, reported the Washington Submit on Thursday, citing an unnamed IDF official. The weapons have been taken in order that they are often made available for ballistics testing, the official said.

Givara Al-Buderi, a fellow Al Jazeera correspondent and a close personal buddy of Abu Akleh, stated she noticed the entry wound of a bullet simply above the fitting eyebrow and was instructed by the physician that part of the bullet had remained lodged in Abu Akleh's cranium.

Al-Buderi was called by docs to assist take away Abu Akleh's clothing and change her for the funeral.

"We took off her garments and needed to put a white dress on her," Al-Buderi instructed CNN, "I tried to place my hand behind her head, but there was nothing there."

"I felt round but there was nothing, nothing left."

An earlier version of this story incorrectly said where Shireen Abu Akleh's funeral service was due to be held. It was being held at a Greek Catholic Church.

CNN's Nadeen Ebrahim, Mostafa Salem and Celine Alkhaldi in Abu Dhabi contributed reporting.