An Israeli investigation into the killing of an Al Jazeera journalist in the occupied West Bank will not be accepted, Palestine’s envoy to the UN stated.
According to the Palestinian Ministry of Health, Shireen Abu Akleh, aged 51, was shot in the head by the Israeli army while covering a military raid in the West Bank city of Jenin on Wednesday.
Palestine’s Permanent Representative to the UN, Riyad Mansour, blamed Israeli forces for Abu Akleh’s death, while speaking to reporters at the UN headquarters in New York.
As Israel was the “guilty” party, an investigation by Israel will not be accepted, he said.
Palestine’s demand for an independent international investigation was also asserted by the envoy.
While the Israeli army said that its initial assessments indicated that Abu Akleh was “killed by Palestinian gunmen,” the Doha-based news channel Al Jazeera accused Israeli forces of deliberately killing its veteran journalist in the occupied West Bank.
The Palestinian Authority also confirmed that Abu Akleh was “shot dead by the Israeli army.”
