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 hold Abu Akleh's coffin, which Al Jazeera footage showed 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 down to relaxation subsequent to her mother and father' grave. Church bells echoed by means of the cemetery.

The burial was happening a day after a memorial procession that introduced thousands to the West Bank city of Ramallah.

Mourners flocked to the town's streets on Friday and huddled in entrance of St. Joseph hospital in East Jerusalem, the place Abu Akleh's physique remained until the burial. Muslims performed Friday prayers and mourners chanted "strolling, 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 shall be held, and then to the burial website. Israeli police were lined exterior the hospital, in keeping with CNN reporters. Police roadblocks were arrange across the hospital.

Mourners carried Abu Akleh's coffin out of the hospital, but were met with strong resistance from Israeli police who compelled them to transport the body by automobile. A flash bomb and tear gasoline have been fired, in response to CNN reporters.

Al Jazeera reside footage showed Israeli police beating mourners with batons as they struggled to carry Abu Akleh's coffin. The physique was in turn brought again contained in the hospital after which transported by car, said Al Jazeera.

Footage on social media and Al Jazeera showed 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 stated that "lots of of rioters started to disrupt public order, even earlier than the funeral began," as they labored to secure the procession.

"A whole bunch of individuals gathered outdoors the French hospital (St. Joseph hospital) in Sheikh Jarrah and commenced chanting nationalist incitement," added the assertion.

"In direction of the exit of the casket from the hospital, rioters began throwing stones towards the policemen from the French hospital plaza, and the policemen had been compelled to act."

Thousands have been packed inside and outside the church as Abu Akleh's body arrived. Ladies have been heard ululating in mourning and monks sang Christian hymns in Arabic as the coffin, draped in Palestinian flags, was carried via the crowd.

The circumstances of her dying remain unclear. The Palestinian Authority on Thursday denied Israel's supply of a joint investigation, insisting on an unbiased process and vowing to try these accused of her killing to the International Criminal Court docket (ICC).

Palestinian Prime Minister Mohamed Shtayyeh advised Al Jazeera on Thursday that the outcomes of their investigation will probably be released soon and can embody the autopsy report.

Israeli army investigators confiscated the weapons of some IDF troops as part of their inquiry, reported the Washington Put up on Thursday, citing an unnamed IDF official. The weapons were taken so that they can be made available for ballistics testing, the official said.

Givara Al-Buderi, a fellow Al Jazeera correspondent and an in depth personal friend of Abu Akleh, stated she noticed the entry wound of a bullet just above the precise eyebrow and was instructed by the doctor that part of the bullet had remained lodged in Abu Akleh's skull.

Al-Buderi was referred to as by docs to help remove Abu Akleh's clothing and alter her for the funeral.

"We took off her clothes and needed to put a white costume on her," Al-Buderi told CNN, "I attempted to place my hand behind her head, however there was nothing there."

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

An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated the place Shireen Abu Akleh's funeral service was as a result of 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.