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

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

In an announcement launched on Thursday, the Israel Defense Forces claimed that as a result of Abu Aqleh was killed in an “lively combat scenario”, an immediate felony investigation wouldn't be launched, although an “operational inquiry” would continue.

In accordance with a report within the Haaretz newspaper, the Israeli military police branch has accepted the assurances of Israeli troops that they were not aware she was in a village adjacent to the Jenin refugee camp when she was killed on 11 Might.

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

Abu Aqleh was a household name throughout the Arab world, identified for documenting the hardship of Palestinian life below Israeli rule for Al Jazeera. Her killing received widespread international protection and prompted criticism from the White Home.

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 response to Haaretz, the head of the Commando Brigade, Col Meni Liberty, identified six occasions through the raid when Israeli soldiers opened fireplace, allegedly at armed Palestinians who were near Abu Aqleh and other journalists.

The Israeli army had previously launched an account that stated it couldn't unequivocally determine the source of the bullet that killed Abu Aqleh. That account speculated that the bullet could 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 international investigations.

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

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

Last week the UN excessive 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 subsequent violence at her funeral, Bachelet mentioned: “As I have referred to as for a lot of times before, there should be appropriate investigations into the actions of Israeli safety forces.

“Anyone discovered responsible ought to be held to account with penal and disciplinary sanctions commensurate to the gravity of the violation. This culture of impunity should finish now.”

The Israeli NGO Yesh Din criticised the decision to not investigate, saying that “the military legislation enforcement mechanisms not even hassle to offer the appearance of investigating”.

More than 100 artists, together with Hollywood stars, acclaimed authors and prominent 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 everybody involved in authorising it”.

The Israel Defence Forces launched an announcement on Thursday claiming that “dozens of Palestinian gunmen fired recklessly and indiscriminately whereas IDF soldiers were conducting counter-terrorism activities in the Jenin camp” on the day that Abu Aqleh died.

“An change of fireside occurred between Palestinian gunmen and the troopers. Towards the end of the exercise, the journalist Shireen Abu [Aqleh], who was current at the battle zone in the course of the exchange of fireside, was hit.

“Because of the nature of the active fight scenario, an instantaneous [military criminal] investigation was not launched. A decision relating to the necessity of an … investigation shall be determined by the army advocacy, in accordance with the findings of the still-ongoing operational inquiry, as is standard in such cases.”

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The police department choice came a day after Israeli authorities stated they have given the go-ahead for flag-waving Jewish nationalists to march through the guts of the main Palestinian thoroughfare in Jerusalem’s Outdated Metropolis later this month, in a decision that threatens to re-ignite violence in the holy city.

The office of the public security minister, Omer Barlev, mentioned the march would happen on 29 May along its “customary route” by means of Damascus Gate, which is an Arab neighbourhood.

The Previous Metropolis, located in East Jerusalem, has skilled weeks of violent confrontations between Israeli police and Palestinian demonstrators, and the march threatens to trigger new unrest.