Israeli minister vowed thorough investigation into Shireen Abu Akleh killing

On Wednesday, Israel’s defense minister pledged a thorough inquiry into the death of Al Jazeera reporter Shireen Abu Akleh and ordered Palestinian officials to hand over the bullet that killed her.

Benny Gantz told reporters that Israel has spoken with the US and Palestinian authorities and that all aspects of the inquiry would be made public.

While the military initially suggested Abu Akleh might have been killed by stray fire from Palestinians, while she was covering an Israel raid in the West Bank, Gantz was more cautious Wednesday evening. “We are trying to figure out exactly what happened….I don’t have final conclusions.”

“I am very sorry for what happened,” Gantz told reporters. “Currently we do not know what was the direct cause of Shireen’s death. We are very decisive to have a full-scale investigation of this process, and we hope to get Palestinian cooperation on this issue. Without the report of the pathological findings and the forensic findings, it would be very hard for us to find out what happened on the ground.”

“We investigated all the troops that were part of the operation,” he added. “So far, we don’t have any final conclusion.”

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