A U.S. analysis of Israeli and Palestinian investigations has determined that gunfire from Israeli positionslikely killed Palestinian-American journalist Shireen Abu Aklehin May but there was "no reason to believe" her shooting was intentional, the State Department said Monday.
An Israeli ballistics test of the actual bullet that killed her was inconclusive because of too much damage to the bullet that had been provided by the Palestinian Authority to U.S. security officials who monitored the new test, the U.S. statement said.
The finding came after what the U.S. said was inconclusive tests by independent ballistics experts under U.S. oversight of the bullet fragment recovered from Abu Akleh's body.
"Ballistic experts determined the bullet was badly damaged, which prevented a clear conclusion," said Ned Price, the State Department's spokesman.
Abu Akleh, a well-known correspondent for Al Jazeera, was killed during a May 11 firefight in the West Bank town of Jenin between Israeli troops and Palestinians. Her death has been controversial as Palestinians claimed she was killed by Israeli gunfire while Israeli forces steadfastly denied that was the case.
The U.S. Security Coordinator's office in Israel, which monitors Israeli and Palestinian security arrangements, recently analyzed the full investigations carried out by Israel and the Palestinian Authority and determined that it was likely that the shot that killed her came from Israeli positions -- though it appeared to be unintentional.
"By summarizing both investigations, the USSC concluded that gunfire from IDF positions was likely responsible for the death of Shireen Abu Akleh," Price said.
"The USSC found no reason to believe that this was intentional but rather the result of tragic circumstances during an IDF-led military operation against factions of Palestinian Islamic Jihad on May 11, 2022, in Jenin, which followed a series of terrorist attacks in Israel," his statement continued.
In late June, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights also reported that Israel was responsible for the shooting.
"All information we have gathered -- including official information from the Israeli military and the Palestinian Attorney-General -- is consistent with the finding that the shots that killed Abu Akleh and injured her colleague Ali Sammoudi came from Israeli Security Forces and not from indiscriminate firing by armed Palestinians, as initially claimed by Israeli authorities," it said in a statement.
"We have found no information suggesting that there was activity by armed Palestinians in the immediate vicinity of the journalists," it added.
Over the weekend, the Palestinian Authority turned the bullets over to the U.S. Security Coordinator for new ballistic testing that they believed would show that Abu Akleh was killed by Israeli soldiers.
A deal was worked out where the U.S. would monitor a ballistics test carried out by Israeli forensics efforts that the State Department and the Israeli Defense Forces said today was inconclusive because of damage to the bullet.
The physical condition of the bullet and the quality of the characteristics on it do not enable a ballistic examination to conclusively determine whether or not the bullet was fired from the weapon which was examined," said a statement from the Israeli Defense Forces that added that the IDF would use "all available means" to investigate Abu Akleh's shooting.
Her family issued a blistering response to the U.S. government's finding.
"With respect to today's announcement by the State Department -- on July 4, no less -- that a test of the spent round that killed Shireen Abu Akleh, an American citizen, was inconclusive as to the origin of the gun that fired it, we are incredulous," her family said.
"The focus on the bullet has always been misplaced and was an attempt by the Israeli side to spin the narrative in its favor, as if this were some kind of police whodunit that could be solved by a CSI-style forensic test," their statement said, in part.
It continued, "All available evidence suggests that a U.S. citizen was the subject of an extrajudicial killing by a foreign government that receives billions of dollars of American military aid each year to perpetuate a prolonged and entrenched military occupation of millions of Palestinians. We were hoping that, for example, the FBI or other relevant authorities would open a murder investigation, much like they do in ordinary cases when American citizens are killed abroad."
Abu Akleh's family ended their statement, saying, "We continue to call on the American government to conduct and open, transparent and thorough investigation of all the facts by independent agencies free from any political consideration or influence."
US says Israeli military gunfire likely killed Al Jazeera journalist
美国对以色列和巴勒斯坦调查的分析确定，来自以色列阵地的枪声可能杀害了巴勒斯坦裔美国记者Shireen Abu Akleh美国国务院周一表示，在5月，但“没有理由相信”她的枪击是故意的。
美国声明称，以色列对杀死她的子弹进行的弹道测试没有结论，因为巴勒斯坦权力机构向监督新测试的美国安全官员提供的子弹损伤太大。
这一发现是在美国所说的独立弹道专家在美国监督下对从阿布·阿克里尸体上找到的子弹碎片进行非决定性测试后得出的。
美国国务院发言人内德·普莱斯(Ned Price)说，“弹道专家确定子弹受损严重，这妨碍了得出明确的结论。”。
5月11日，以色列军队和巴勒斯坦人在约旦河西岸城镇杰宁发生交火，半岛电视台著名记者阿布·阿克莱遇害。她的死引起了争议，因为巴勒斯坦人声称她是被以色列的炮火打死的，而以色列军队坚决否认这一点。
监督以色列和巴勒斯坦安全安排的美国驻以色列安全协调员办公室最近分析了以色列和巴勒斯坦权力机构进行的全面调查，并确定杀死她的子弹很可能来自以色列阵地——尽管这似乎是无意的。
“通过总结两次调查，USSC得出结论，以色列国防军阵地的炮火可能是导致Shireen Abu Akleh死亡的原因，”Price说。
“USSC没有理由认为这是故意的，而是以色列国防军领导的2022年5月11日在杰宁针对巴勒斯坦伊斯兰圣战组织的军事行动中悲惨情况的结果，此前以色列发生了一系列恐怖袭击，”他的声明继续说。
6月下旬，联合国人权事务高级专员也报告说，以色列应对枪击事件负责。
它在一份声明中说:“我们收集的所有信息——包括来自以色列军方和巴勒斯坦总检察长的官方信息——都与调查结果一致，即杀死阿布·阿克莱和伤害她的同事阿里·萨姆迪的子弹来自以色列安全部队，而不是像以色列当局最初声称的那样，来自武装的巴勒斯坦人的不分青红皂白的射击。”
“我们没有发现任何信息表明在记者附近有武装巴勒斯坦人的活动，”它补充说。
周末，巴勒斯坦权力机构将子弹交给美国安全协调员进行新的弹道测试，他们认为这将表明阿布·阿克莱是被以色列士兵打死的。
达成了一项协议，美国将监督以色列法医进行的弹道测试，国务院和以色列国防军今天表示，由于子弹的损坏，这一测试是不确定的。
以色列国防军的一份声明说:“子弹的物理状况和子弹上特征的质量无法使弹道检查最终确定子弹是否是从被检查的武器中射出的。”声明补充说，以色列国防军将使用“一切可用的手段”调查阿布·阿克莱的枪击事件。
她的家人对美国政府的发现发表了激烈的回应。
“国务院今天宣布——至少是在7月4日——杀死美国公民Shireen Abu Akleh的废弹测试没有确定开枪的枪支来源，对此我们表示怀疑，”她的家人说。
“对子弹的关注总是被放错了地方，是以色列方面试图将叙述转向对自己有利的方向，就好像这是某种警察侦探小说，可以通过CSI式的法医检验来解决一样，”他们的声明中说。
它继续说，“所有可获得的证据表明，一名美国公民是一个外国政府法外杀害的对象，该政府每年接受数十亿美元的美国军事援助，以维持对数百万巴勒斯坦人的长期和根深蒂固的军事占领。例如，我们希望联邦调查局或其他相关机构能够展开谋杀调查，就像他们在美国公民在国外被杀的普通案件中所做的那样。”
阿布·阿克里的家人结束了他们的声明，说:“我们继续呼吁美国政府由独立机构对所有事实进行公开、透明和彻底的调查，不受任何政治考虑或影响。”
