Israel will not hold criminal inquiry into killing of journalist Shireen Abu Aqleh | Israel

Israel will not launch a felony investigation into the killing of the US-Palestinian journalist Shireen Abu Aqleh, which Palestinian officers and witnesses have blamed on Israeli soldiers.

In a statement launched on Thursday, the Israel Protection Forces claimed that because Abu Aqleh was killed in an “energetic fight situation”, an instantaneous criminal investigation would not be launched, although an “operational inquiry” would proceed.

According to 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 adjoining to the Jenin refugee camp when she was killed on 11 Might.

The Biden administration and the UN security council have referred to as for a transparent investigation.

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

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

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

In accordance with Haaretz, the top of the Commando Brigade, Col Meni Liberty, identified six occasions in the course of the raid when Israeli soldiers opened hearth, allegedly at armed Palestinians who had been close to Abu Aqleh and other journalists.

The Israeli navy had beforehand released an account that stated 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 using a “telescopic scope” at 200 metres.

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

The choice by the Israeli army advocate general, Maj Gen Yifat Tomer-Yerushalmi, to not order an investigation by the navy police criminal investigation division marks a departure from nearly all of current incidents involving IDF shootings of civilians within the occupied West Bank, which have been adopted by investigations.

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

Last week the UN high commissioner for human rights, Michelle Bachelet, complained a couple of lack of Israeli accountability for deaths in the occupied territories.

Commenting on Abu Aqleh’s killing and the next violence at her funeral, Bachelet stated: “As I've referred to as for many times earlier than, there should be acceptable investigations into the actions of Israeli security forces.

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

The Israeli NGO Yesh Din criticised the choice not to examine, saying that “the military law enforcement mechanisms not even trouble to give the appearance of investigating”.

More than 100 artists, together with Hollywood stars, acclaimed authors and distinguished musicians, have meanwhile signed a joint letter condemning Abu Aqleh’s killing.

Steve Coogan, Kathryn Hahn, Mark Ruffalo, Susan Sarandon and Tilda Swinton had been among the many signatories to a letter printed by Artists for Palestine UK that called for “full accountability for the perpetrators of this crime and everyone concerned in authorising it”.

The Israel Defence Forces released a statement on Thursday claiming that “dozens of Palestinian gunmen fired recklessly and indiscriminately whereas IDF troopers were conducting counter-terrorism activities within the Jenin camp” on the day that Abu Aqleh died.

“An trade of fireside occurred between Palestinian gunmen and the troopers. Toward the top of the exercise, the journalist Shireen Abu [Aqleh], who was current on the battle zone in the course of the trade of fire, was hit.

“As a result of nature of the lively fight scenario, an instantaneous [military criminal] investigation was not launched. A decision concerning the need of an … investigation shall be decided by the navy advocacy, in accordance with the findings of the still-ongoing operational inquiry, as is standard in such instances.”

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The police branch resolution came a day after Israeli authorities said they've given the go-ahead for flag-waving Jewish nationalists to march by the guts of the main Palestinian thoroughfare in Jerusalem’s Old City later this month, in a decision that threatens to re-ignite violence in the holy metropolis.

The workplace of the general public safety minister, Omer Barlev, mentioned the march would take place on 29 May alongside its “customary route” via Damascus Gate, which is an Arab neighbourhood.

The Previous Metropolis, positioned in East Jerusalem, has experienced weeks of violent confrontations between Israeli police and Palestinian demonstrators, and the march threatens to set off new unrest.