Israel is not going to maintain prison inquiry into killing of journalist Shireen Abu Aqleh | Israel

Israel won't launch a legal investigation into the killing of the US-Palestinian journalist Shireen Abu Aqleh, which Palestinian officials and witnesses have blamed on Israeli troopers.

In an announcement released on Thursday, the Israel Protection Forces claimed that because Abu Aqleh was killed in an “lively fight situation”, a direct prison investigation would not be launched, although an “operational inquiry” would continue.

Based on a report in the Haaretz newspaper, the Israeli army police branch has accepted the assurances of Israeli troops that they weren't conscious she was in a village adjacent to the Jenin refugee camp when she was killed on 11 Could.

The Biden administration and the UN security council have called for a transparent investigation.

Abu Aqleh was a family title across the Arab world, recognized for documenting the hardship of Palestinian life underneath Israeli rule for Al Jazeera. Her killing acquired widespread international coverage and prompted criticism from the White House.

The US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, promised her family that Washington would demand that her death be correctly investigated.

Abu Aqleh was killed throughout an arrest raid by an Israeli commando unit on Palestinian militants.

Based on Haaretz, the head of the Commando Brigade, Col Meni Liberty, identified six events through the raid when Israeli soldiers opened fire, allegedly at armed Palestinians who were near Abu Aqleh and different journalists.

The Israeli navy had beforehand released an account that mentioned it could not unequivocally decide the supply of the bullet that killed Abu Aqleh. That account speculated that the bullet may have been fired by either a Palestinian militant or an Israeli soldier utilizing a “telescopic scope” at 200 metres.

Palestinian officials have refused to present the recovered bullet to Israeli authorities to analyse but said it welcomed international investigations.

The decision by the Israeli navy advocate general, Maj Gen Yifat Tomer-Yerushalmi, to not order an investigation by the army police felony investigation division marks a departure from the vast majority of latest incidents involving IDF shootings of civilians in the occupied West Bank, which have been followed by investigations.

At her funeral on Friday police beat mourners carrying her casket, prompting extra criticism of Israeli authorities.

Final week the UN excessive commissioner for human rights, Michelle Bachelet, complained a few lack of Israeli accountability for deaths within the occupied territories.

Commenting on Abu Aqleh’s killing and the following violence at her funeral, Bachelet mentioned: “As I've called for many instances earlier than, there should be applicable investigations into the actions of Israeli safety forces.

“Anybody discovered accountable should be held to account with penal and disciplinary sanctions commensurate to the gravity of the violation. This tradition of impunity should end now.”

The Israeli NGO Yesh Din criticised the decision to not examine, saying that “the army law enforcement mechanisms now not even bother to offer the looks of investigating”.

Greater than 100 artists, together with Hollywood stars, acclaimed authors and prominent musicians, have in the meantime signed a joint letter condemning Abu Aqleh’s killing.

Steve Coogan, Kathryn Hahn, Mark Ruffalo, Susan Sarandon and Tilda Swinton had been among the signatories to a letter published by Artists for Palestine UK that referred to as for “full accountability for the perpetrators of this crime and everybody involved in authorising it”.

The Israel Defence Forces released an announcement on Thursday claiming that “dozens of Palestinian gunmen fired recklessly and indiscriminately while IDF troopers have been conducting counter-terrorism activities within the Jenin camp” on the day that Abu Aqleh died.

“An exchange of fireside occurred between Palestinian gunmen and the troopers. Toward the top of the exercise, the journalist Shireen Abu [Aqleh], who was present on the battle zone through the alternate of fire, was hit.

“As a result of nature of the lively combat scenario, an instantaneous [military criminal] investigation was not launched. A call relating to the need of an … investigation can be determined by the army advocacy, in accordance with the findings of the still-ongoing operational inquiry, as is commonplace in such circumstances.”

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