Shireen Abu Akleh: Clashes between Israeli police and Palestinian mourners at funeral of Al Jazeera journalist shot dead in West Bank | World News

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Israeli police and Palestinian mourners have clashed in east Jerusalem at the funeral of Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh, who was shot dead whilst covering a raid.

Ms Abu Akleh, 51, was reporting on an Israeli raid in the city of Jenin on Wednesday when she was shot in the head whilst wearing a press vest.

Tear gas was fired outside the hospital where her body was being held, and a shrine destroyed.

An hour later, Israeli police arrested mourners chanting outside the Catholic church in Jerusalem’s old city.

Shortly before the funeral started, the IDF released preliminary findings from their investigation into the killing.

The report says it is still not possible to determine who fired the bullet that killed the journalist, but they concede it could have been an IDF soldier.

The findings will make little difference to the thousands gathered in Jerusalem to bury her – to Palestinians she was murdered and they have lost a voice that spent decades reporting on events in the West Bank

The situation remains very tense.

In this undated photo provided by Al Jazeera, Shireen Abu Akleh, a journalist for Al Jazeera network, stands in an area where the Dome of the Rock shrine at Al-Aqsa Mosque in the Old City of Jerusalem is seen at right in the background. Abu Akleh, a well-known Palestinian female reporter for the broadcaster's Arabic language channel, was shot and killed while covering an Israeli raid in the occupied West Bank town of Jenin early Wednesday, May 11, 2022. (Al Jazeera via AP)
Image:
Shireen Abu Akleh was covering a raid in the city of Jenin for Al Jazeera when she was shot

On Thursday, thousands of people gathered for her funeral while her body was carried through the streets – with the bulletproof vest on top of the coffin.

Israel has called for a joint investigation with the Palestinian Authority (PA) and for it to hand over the bullet for forensic analysis to determine who fired the fatal round.

Read more:
How two videos represent two versions of a journalist’s death
Israeli PM Naftali Bennett reacts to Al Jazeera journalist’s killing

The PA has refused, saying it will conduct its own investigation and send the results to the International Criminal Court, which is already investigating possible Israeli war crimes.

Ms Abu Akleh was a Palestinian-American reporter who covered the Middle East conflict for more than 25 years.

Qatar-based Al Jazeera had earlier said that its managing director, Ahmad Alyafei, would travel to Jerusalem to attend the funeral.

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