“It is obvious that the PLO’s terrorist gangs in Jenin are the more reasonable shooters to be suspected and held liable for the reporter’s death,” said attorney Darshan-Leitner.
By World Israel News Staff
Israeli attorney Nitsana Darshan-Leitner, founder and president of Shurat-Hadin-Israel Law Center, says the bullet that claimed the life of Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh was likely fired by Palestinian terrorists, Fox News reported.
Veteran journalist Shireen Abu Akleh was shot and killed in Jenin in May during a firefight between Israeli security forces and terrorists in the city.
As soon as the journalist was killed, Al Jazeera, the PA and others immediately blamed Israel, before any investigation even began.
Then-Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett urged the Palestinians to participate in a joint investigation into the shooting, but the PA would not cooperate and refused to hand over the bullet.
Earlier this month, after being pressured by Washington — Abu Akleh was a U.S. citizen — the Palestinians handed over to the State Department what they said was the bullet that killed the reporter.
However, “forensic analysis, independent, third-party examiners, as part of a process overseen by the U.S. Security Coordinator (USSC), could not reach a definitive conclusion regarding the origin of the bullet that killed Palestinian-American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh,” the State Department said.
“Ballistic experts determined the bullet was badly damaged, which prevented a clear conclusion.”
The State Department also surmised, despite the lack of evidence, that the IDF likely fired the shot.
Furthermore, an IDF investigation also “concluded that the source of the fire that led to the death of Ms. Abu Akleh could not be determined based on the available information,” an IDF spokesperson said.
“The IDF investigation conclusively determined that no IDF soldier deliberately fired at Ms. Abu Akleh.”
“It is obvious that the PLO’s (Palestine Liberation Organization’s) terrorist gangs in Jenin are the more reasonable shooters to be suspected and held liable for the reporter’s death,” Darshan-Leitner told Fox.
“Abu Mazen (Mahmoud Abbas) should also answer for his responsibility for the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades terror attacks, as a whole, and the killing of the late Abu Akleh,” she added.
Abbas is president of the Palestinian Authority, which funds terrorists according to its pay-for-slay program, and head of its ruling Fatah party. The Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades is the military wing of the terrorist Fatah movement.
“Due to the dubious chain of custody over the bullet, which was [initially] withheld by the PA, there are two options as to the authenticity of the bullet which was supplied by the PA to the American team,” Shurat Hadin said, according to Fox.
“If it is the original bullet, then the PA — having their own ballistic experts — has known for months that the bullet cannot incriminate Israel and deliberately withheld it to scapegoat Israel for the death of the reporter.”
The second possibility, the NGO continued, is that “this is not the true bullet, and an untraceable bullet was deliberately provided by the Palestinians to the investigation team.”
Indeed, Israeli officials said they suspected Palestinian authorities would destroy or damage evidence related to the incident in order to make it impossible to determine who shot her, Yedioth Aharonot reported at the time.
Meanwhile, on the eve of Joe Biden’s visit to the region, Abu Akleh’s family is demanding a face-to-face meeting with the American president while insisting that Israel is responsible for the reporter’s death.