The announcement came just a week before President Joe Biden visited Israel and the occupied West Bank for meetings with Israeli and Palestinian leaders. It signaled that both sides may be working to find a solution to the impasse. Abu Akleh, a veteran reporter who was well known throughout the Arab world, was fatally shot while covering an Israeli military raid on May 11 in the Jenin refugee camp in the occupied West Bank. The Palestinians, along with Abu Akleh’s colleagues who were with her at the time, say she was killed by Israeli fire. The Israeli military says she was caught in the crossfire of a battle with Palestinian gunmen and that it is impossible to determine which side killed her without analyzing the bullet. Israel says it has identified the rifle that may have shot her, but that it cannot draw any conclusions without comparing it to the bullet. The Palestinians refused to hand over the bullet, saying they did not trust Israel. Human rights groups say Israel has a poor record of investigating shootings of Palestinians by its troops, with investigations languishing for months or years before being quietly closed. The Palestinian attorney general, Akram al-Khateeb, said the bullet was given to US experts “for technical work”. He reiterated the Palestinians’ refusal to share the bullet with the Israelis, but said the Palestinians welcome the involvement of any international bodies “to help us confirm the truth.” “We are confident and confident in our investigations and the results we have come up with,” he said. It was not immediately clear what American experts could discover without also studying the Israeli weapon. It was also unclear whether Israel would hand over the rifle to the Americans. The Israeli military declined to comment, and the US Embassy’s Office of Palestinian Affairs said it had “no new information to offer.” A Palestinian official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was discussing a diplomatic matter, said the issue was raised in a phone call between Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Foreign Minister Antony Blinken and that both sides hoped to resolve the matter before his arrival. Biden on July 13. An AP reconstruction of events lent support to eyewitnesses who say he was shot by Israeli troops. But a weapons expert interviewed by the AP as part of the reconstruction said it was impossible to make a definitive finding without further forensic analysis. Israeli leaders have repeatedly said the soldiers did not target her intentionally. Abu Akleh, who was 51, was a well-known and respected on-air correspondent who rose to prominence two decades ago during the second Palestinian intifada, or uprising, against Israeli rule. It documented the harsh realities of life under Israeli military rule – now in its sixth decade without end – for viewers across the Arab world. Israeli police drew widespread criticism from around the world when they beat mourners and veterans at her funeral in Jerusalem on May 14. An Israeli newspaper last month reported that a police investigation had found wrongdoing by some of its officers, but said those who oversaw the event would not be severely punished. Jenin has long been a stronghold of Palestinian militants, and several recent attacks inside Israel have been carried out by young men from in and around the city. Israel frequently carries out military raids in Jenin, which it says are aimed at arresting militants and preventing more attacks. Israel captured the West Bank in the 1967 Middle East war and has built settlements where nearly 500,000 Israelis live along with nearly 3 million Palestinians. The Palestinians want the territory to be the main part of a future state. Peace talks broke down more than a decade ago, and with Israel now on a new election campaign, they are unlikely to resume anytime soon. The caretaker prime minister, Yair Lapid, supports a two-state solution with the Palestinians, but right-wing parties opposed to Palestinian statehood appear to be dominating the election.
Associated Press writer Fares Akram in Gaza City, Gaza Strip, contributed to this report.
