Al Jazeera releases image of US-made bullet it says killed Palestinian reporter

The bullet that killed Abu Akleh — a 5.56×45mm NATO round — is used by both IDF troops and Palestinian terrorists.

By World Israel News Staff and Associated Press

The Al Jazeera news network has published an image of the bullet that it says killed its veteran reporter Shireen Abu Akleh while she was covering an Israeli military operation near Jenin last month.

It identified the bullet as a U.S.-made 5.56mm round fired from an M4 rifle, commonly used by Israeli forces. The IDF says Palestinian terrorists use the same ammunition.

The IDF released its own image of sacks of bullets it says were confiscated in a raid last month. The bullets in the two images appear identical, with green marking on the tips.

Al Jazeera did not say how it obtained the purported image of the bullet, which is held by the Palestinian Authority. The picture shows what appears to be a curved, spent bullet in a clear plastic container labeled with a red marker.

Abu-Akleh, a Palestinian-American journalist who was reporting for the Al Jazeera network, was gunned down during an IDF arrest operation in Jenin, a hotbed of terrorism, on May 11.

The PA and Al-Jazeera immediately blamed Israel. The PA rejected Israel’s offer of a joint investigation into the shooting, claiming that it had conducted its own probe.

Videos from the scene depict Palestinians firing indiscriminately, including blindly around corners within the neighborhood where the IDF was carrying out arrest raids.

Foreign Minister Yair Lapid told Secretary of State Antony Blinken that any claim that Israeli soldiers had knowingly aimed at the reporter was a “blatant lie.”

Biden administration officials, including U.S. Ambassador to Israel Tom Nides, have called for a thorough investigation.