U.S. forensic experts will analyze the bullet that killed an Al Jazeera journalist in May as the Palestinian Authority tries to resolve a confrontation with Israel over her death.
Shireen Abu Akleh, 51, was a veteran Palestinian-American journalist who had covered the Middle East conflict for more than 25 years.
He was shot dead despite being clearly identified as a member of the press while covering an Israeli military raid on a refugee camp in the occupied West Bank.
Her colleagues who were with her at the time, and other Palestinian eyewitnesses, say she was killed by Israeli Defense Forces fire.
The Israeli army has said it was caught in the crossfire of a battle with Palestinian gunmen and called for the bullet to be delivered and analyzed as evidence. The Palestinians said they would not turn the bullet out of distrust.
The Israeli prime minister’s office released a video suggesting a Palestinian may have been responsible; however, an analysis by Sky News ’data and forensics team shows that the shooting in the images could not have plausibly affected Ms Abu Akleh.
Israeli police later caused international outrage when video footage showed them firing tear gas and trying to arrest the bad guys at the journalist’s funeral in Jerusalem.
Some officers were filmed hitting the bearers ’legs, causing the coffin to slip and almost crashing to the ground.
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0:36 Violence at the journalist’s funeral
Palestinian Attorney General Akram al-Khatib said the bullet was handed over to U.S. experts “for technical work” and said the Palestinians thanked the involvement of international bodies for “helping us confirm the truth”.
“We are confident and confident in our research and the results we have reached,” he said.
However, the Associated Press said it was not immediately clear what the analysis of the bullet would be without the rifle.
U.S. President Joe Biden is scheduled to visit the region in just over a week.