The "Reuters" agency reported today that Hussein Sheikh, a member of the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization, stated: "We have rejected an Israeli request to obtain the bullet that killed Al Jazeera correspondent Shireen Abu Akleh in Jenin yesterday, and the Palestinian Authority will conduct an independent investigation." He added: "Israel requested a joint investigation and the delivery of the bullet that assassinated journalist Shireen, and we refused that, confirming that we will complete our investigation independently and will inform her family, the United States, Qatar, and all official and popular parties about the results of the investigation with high transparency."
He stated: "All indicators, evidence, and witnesses confirm that she was assassinated by Israeli special units." The Palestinian Authority conducted an autopsy on Shireen's body, and the director of the Institute of Forensic Medicine, Rayan Ali, mentioned that a part of the bullet that caused Shireen's death after she was shot in the head was extracted. Ali did not provide details about the type of bullet or the weapon from which it was fired, and he said at a press conference yesterday: "The matter requires completing procedures in the forensic laboratory."
Reuters indicated that Israel denies responsibility for the martyrdom of Abu Akleh, stating it wants "to conduct investigations to determine the source of the bullet that killed her and whether it was from the Israeli army or Palestinian gunmen." It quoted the spokesperson for the Israeli occupation army, Avichai Adraee: "We have begun our investigation and formed a specialized professional team to investigate the circumstances surrounding the death of journalist Shireen Abu Akleh, and we will reach the truth, not excluding any of the hypotheses."
The killing of Shireen, who holds American citizenship, has faced widespread international condemnation and calls for a transparent investigation to identify those responsible for her death. Her body will be buried in an official funeral in Ramallah before being taken to her hometown of Jerusalem, where she will be laid to rest in a cemetery on Friday.
