JERUSALEM | The Israeli police announced Thursday that they had concluded the internal investigation into their intervention at the funeral of Palestinian-American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh in May in Jerusalem, a muscular charge that caused an international outcry, without however revealing the content of its conclusions.
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On May 14, violence erupted as the coffin of Shireen Abu Akleh, a reporter for the Qatari channel Al Jazeera, killed a few days earlier while covering an Israeli raid in the north of the occupied West Bank, was released from hospital. The coffin had almost fallen after the truncheons of the Israeli police against Palestinian porters.
“The results of the investigation into the attitude of the police during the funeral of journalist Shireen Abu Akleh have been presented to the police commander,” the police said in a statement on Thursday, without disclosing these conclusions.
“The police, under my instructions, investigated to assess the action of their forces on the ground in order to draw conclusions and improve the operational conduct in this type of event,” said the police commander, Kobi. Shabtai, according to this press release.
“We cannot remain indifferent to these harsh images, and we must investigate so that sensitive events of this order are not violently disrupted by rioters,” he added, without further details.
Thousands of Palestinians had attended the funeral of the star journalist of Al Jazeera in East Jerusalem, Palestinian sector of the holy city occupied and annexed by Israel.
His brother, Anton Abu Akleh, told AFP on Thursday that “no matter what Israel says or does, the photos speak volumes enough.”
“The police attacked the coffin bearers and they are trying to hide their acts and their faults,” added Mr. Abu Akleh, accusing Israel of being “behind the assassination” of his sister.
The Palestinian Authority, Al Jazeera and Qatar accused the Israeli army of killing the journalist.
After initially claiming that the reporter — who was wearing a bulletproof vest reading “press” and a hard hat when she was shot — had “probably” succumbed to Palestinian gunfire , Israel said it did not rule out that it could be a shot from Israeli soldiers.
The Palestinian prosecutor concluded that the journalist had been shot by an Israeli soldier.