“All the information we have gathered, including the official information of the Israeli military and the Palestinian Attorney General, is consistent with the fact that the shooting that killed Abu Agle and wounded his comrade Ali Sammudi came from the Israeli security forces,” said spokeswoman Ravina. Shamdasani, A. Report.
He further added that Abu Agle “did not shoot from the indiscriminate firing of armed Palestinians, as initially stated by Israeli officials.”
Abu Agle, a reporter with decades of experience covering the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, was shot in the head in the early hours of May 11 while reporting on an Israeli. Attack on the western city of Jenin. Witnesses said the fire started from an Israeli military convoy, but Israeli officials said he may have been killed in a Palestinian shooting.
The results of the United Nations – including the firing of “several single, seemingly well-aimed bullets” from the direction of Israeli forces on Abu Agle and three other journalists – reflect the results of several independent investigations. The Washington Post has found that Israeli troops may have carried out a series of deadly shootings.
The Israeli military statement on Friday did not directly refer to the UN findings, but said Israel was continuing to investigate the shooting and said “Abu Agle was not shot intentionally by an IDF soldier and it cannot be determined whether he was killed by a Palestinian. Shot by an IDF soldier.
The report accused the Palestinian Authority of refusing to share Israeli demands to share the bulletin that killed Abu Agle, saying it “states their motives.”
Israeli Defense Minister Benny Kantz said in a separate statement that the UN investigation was “baseless”.
The findings of the United Nations – along with investigations by The Post, The New York Times, the Associated Press, CNN and the investigative team Bellinggate – came just weeks before President Biden’s planned trip to the White House to settle the assassination of Abu Agle. To Israel.
On Thursday, 24 U.S. senators Sent a letter to Biden Insists that the United States be directly involved in the investigation into Abu Agle’s death. The letter, citing a lack of progress in establishing an independent inquiry – and the fact that Abu Agle is an American – said the US government “has a duty to ensure a comprehensive, impartial and transparent investigation into his assassination.”
A spokesman for the National Security Council said the United States was “not currently conducting an official investigation” into the killings but was “working to coordinate cooperation between the parties.” The spokesman, who spoke anonymously to discuss the diplomatic debate, declined to comment directly when asked if Biden would raise the issue of Abu Agle’s assassination with the Israelis.
On the day of Abu Agle’s assassination, Israeli security forces spokesman Ron Kochav first acknowledged the incident in a tweet at 7:45 am: “Journalists may have been injured, perhaps by Palestinian gunfire.”
That morning, he told military radio that only a Palestinian gunman could be responsible. At the end of the day, Kants withdrew from those promises, saying an Israeli soldier may have been responsible for the shooting.
One week after the murder, the military said it had no evidence of criminal activity in the death. As a result, officials said, there would be no investigation into the shooting by the military police – which could lead to the publication of the findings of the investigation.
On May 11, 2022, more than six weeks after the killing of journalist Shreen Abu Agle in Jenin and the injury of his colleague Ali al-Sammoudi, it is unfortunate that Israeli authorities have not carried out a criminal investigation. ” The franchise office said.
Palestinians and human rights activists have been claiming for years that the Israeli military justice system creates an environment in which suspected military personnel cannot be punished for violent crimes and killings against Palestinians.
The last time an Israeli soldier was tried was in court-martial in 2016. A soldier, a war doctor, shot a video of a Palestinian attacker lying wounded on the ground. The 19-year-old Israeli soldier was sentenced to 18 months in prison, sparking outrage across the political spectrum from Palestinians who claimed it was a sham trial for several Israelis who argued for a soldier in a difficult war situation. The case continued. Others said the controversy surrounding the trial reflects the deep nature of Israel’s violent occupation of the Palestinians.
Shlomo Lecker, an Israeli lawyer representing Palestinian families killed by Israeli soldiers, said he hoped international pressure would reduce the chances of a full and transparent trial in Abu Agle’s case. He said the military, from the outset, was committed to upholding its organizational ethics, in which soldiers “took advantage of the fact that they would not face punishment.”
“The military is betting that diplomats and others who put pressure on the investigation will soon give up,” he added.
Post selection – Based on five dozen videos, social media posts and photos of the event, two physical examinations of the area and two independent acoustic analyzes – an Israeli soldier may have shot Abu Akle. Audio analysis of what could have been a dangerous shooting indicated that someone had fired from an estimated distance relative to the distance between the press and the IDF convoy.
The Post’s review found no evidence of armed Palestinian activity and was close to where Abu Agle and a group of other journalists were standing before the assassination.
“The perpetrators must be held accountable,” the UN report said.
Fahim reported from Istanbul. Yasmeen Abu Daleb in Washington contributed to this report.
