According to Palestinian Justice Minister Mohammed Al-Shalaldeh, Israel bears full responsibility for the death of Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh, calling it a planned act and a war crime.

Abu Akleh was shot in the head during an Israeli military operation in the West Bank town of Jenin on Wednesday morning.

Six days after Israel denied responsibility, an Israel Defense Force commander informed Haaretz that an Israeli soldier seemed to have shot at Abu Akleh, killing her.

According to the officer, an Israeli soldier riding in an army vehicle with a rifle fitted with a telescopic lens shot and killed Abu Akleh from 190 meters away.

Al-Shalaldeh said: “Let the one who fired know that this projectile is in our possession, and the evidence for that is that we cannot participate with the Israelis in this investigation because we also have sovereignty under the Israeli occupation, and therefore we do not allow that it is a joint investigation, and have many similar bad experiences with the occupying power.”

He added that examining the bullet would take time due to the nature of forensic investigations.

“All specialists and experts in this regard take all legal measures, but in principle, we say in terms of evidence, and the criminal evidence says that the projectile came from … the Israeli occupation soldiers,” said the minister.

According to Israeli TV Channel 12, the US has requested Israel for clarity on the inquiry into the murder of Abu Akleh, a Palestinian-American citizen.

The Palestinian public prosecutor demanded that Abu Akleh’s body be autopsied to determine the cause of death and to identify any evidence linking it to the party responsible.

The Institute of Forensic Medicine at An-Najah National University in Nablus stated on May 12 that the shooting that killed Abu Akleh gave her little hope of life, even with medical assistance.

The bullet caused a full laceration of the brain and skull on contact, according to Dr. Rayan Al-Ali, head of the facility.

Al-Ali indicated that the distance of the shot could not be accurately determined. “All we can conclude now is that the distance is more than a meter, and this means that the shooting came from a (distant) source,” he said

He pointed out that the doctors found a mutilated projectile, and added: “The size of the injury makes us know the nature of the weapon used, and what we can say now is that it is a long, belted, high-speed weapon,”

Al-Ali stressed that it was not possible to disclose any further information at this time.

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