(Jerusalem) The Israeli police announced on Saturday the opening of an investigation after the international outcry caused by the intervention of its members during the funeral of the Palestinian journalist Shireen Abu Akleh, whose coffin nearly fell after the blows of truncheons against carriers.
Posted at 8:27
Updated at 11:23 a.m.
Thousands of Palestinians attend the funeral of Palestinian-American Al Jazeera television journalist who was shot in the head on Wednesday while covering an Israeli military raid in the Jenin refugee camp in the West Bank, Palestinian Territory occupied by Israel since 1967. She wore a bullet-proof vest marked “press” and a reporter’s helmet.
As the coffin was released from St. Joseph’s Hospital in East Jerusalem, a Palestinian sector of the city also occupied by Israel, police entered the facility and charged into a crowd waving Palestinian flags.
PHOTO AHMAD GHARABLI, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
The coffin almost fell from the hands of the bearers who were beaten by police armed with batons before being caught in extremis, according to images from local television.
“Israeli Police Commissioner […] ordered an investigation into the incident. The findings will be presented to the commissioner in the coming days,” police said in a statement.
She reiterated that the police “had been exposed to the violence of the rioters, which caused them to use force”.
Images of the police charge circulating on social media have caused an international outcry.
“Shocking”
“We were deeply disturbed by the footage of Israeli police intruding on the funeral procession,” said US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, as the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Man Michelle Bachelet spoke of the “shocking” images.
The European Union condemned “the disproportionate use of force and the disrespectful behavior of the Israeli police”.
The French representation in Jerusalem deemed the “police violence” “deeply shocking”, and Spain denounced as “unacceptable” the “disproportionate use of force”. Germany said it regretted that the funeral could not be held “with peace and dignity”.
“The occupying forces did not just kill Shireen […] but they terrorized those who accompanied her to her final resting place,” Qatar said.
“If you don’t stop these nationalist songs, we will have to disperse you using force and we will prevent the funeral from taking place,” an Israeli policeman said in a megaphone to the crowd in the compound of the hospital on Friday, according to police video.
She accused the crowd of Palestinians of having “thrown glass bottles and other objects” at the police.
The Palestinian Red Crescent Society reported 33 injuries and the Israeli police reported six arrests.
The crowd of Palestinians was then able to accompany the coffin to a church in the Old City where a mass was celebrated, then to the cemetery.
PHOTO MAYA LEVIN, ASSOCIATED PRESS
“The murder” of the 51-year-old journalist was unanimously condemned by the UN Security Council, which called for “a transparent and impartial investigation”.
Origin of the shot
The Palestinian Authority, Qatar’s Al Jazeera television and the Qatari government accused the Israeli army of killing the journalist.
Israel, after claiming that she had “probably” succumbed to Palestinian fire, then said it did not rule out that the bullet was fired by its soldiers.
PHOTO IBRAHEEM ABU MUSTAFA, REUTERS
A man paints a mural of journalist Shireen Abu Akleh in Khan Younis, West Bank i
According to “the first results” of the investigation by the Palestinian prosecutor in Ramallah, “the only origin of the shooting is the occupying forces”.
Before him, the Israeli army indicated that it was not possible to immediately determine the origin of the shooting.
Israel demanded that the bullet be given to it for ballistic examination, and proposed that Palestinian and American experts be present during this examination.
But Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas refused a joint investigation with Israel. “We don’t trust them,” he said.
Mr. Abbas also held a ceremony on Saturday during which he presented a posthumous medal to Shireen Abou Akleh.
On Saturday, Hussein al-Sheikh, a tenor from the Palestinian Authority, said on Twitter “welcome the participation of all international bodies in the investigation into the assassination” of the journalist.
In recent months, the Israeli army has launched several operations to search for Palestinian suspects in the Jenin refugee camp, a stronghold of the Palestinian armed factions from which the perpetrators of deadly attacks in Israel originated.