Israeli forces fired stun grenades and assaulted mourners carrying the casket of slain Palestinian American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh in Jerusalem today. Israeli authorities ambushed Palestinian mourners before they could even leave the premises of a hospital for a procession to Abu Akleh’s funeral service. They were forced to place the casket inside a car to be transported to a church for the services.
This comes two days after Abu Akleh was shot in the head while covering an Israeli raid on the Jenin refugee camp. On Thursday, the Al Jazeera network published new video evidence that Palestinian fighters were not in the vicinity of Shireen Abu Akleh when she was killed — and that Israeli troops had a clear line of fire on her position. Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas spoke at a state funeral for Shireen Abu Akleh held Thursday in Ramallah.
President Mahmoud Abbas: “We hold the Israeli occupation authorities fully responsible for her killing, and it will not be able to conceal the truth with this crime. This crime shall not pass without penalty. We would like to point out that we reject, and have rejected, the joint investigation with the Israeli authorities, because it committed this crime and because we don’t trust them. And we will immediately approach the International Court.”