A monthlong investigation by The New York Times (NYT) has found that the bullet that killed Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh in last May was fired from the approximate location of the Israeli military convoy most likely by a soldier from an elite unit.
Although the Times investigation also showed that 16 shots were fired from the location of the Israeli convoy as opposed to Israeli claims that the soldier had fired five bullets in the journalists’ direction the US newspaper found no evidence that the person who fired recognized Abu Akleh and targeted her personally.
The Times was also unable to determine whether the shooter saw that she and her colleagues were wearing protective vests emblazoned with the word Press.
“The evidence reviewed by The Times showed that there were no armed Palestinians near her when she was shot. It contradicted Israeli claims that if a soldier had mistakenly killed her it was because he had been shooting at a Palestinian gunman” it says.
