No way to determine origin of bullet that killed journalist, US embassy says

The US embassy in Israel says experts are unable to determine whether a bullet that killed al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh came from an Israeli gun or a Palestinian one.

The probe nonetheless finds that an Israeli soldier likely shot the fatal bullet, apparently by mistake.

“Ballistic experts determined the bullet was badly damaged, which prevented a clear conclusion,” the embassy says in a statement after it was allowed to oversee the examination of the bullet, which had been withheld by the Palestinian Authority until Saturday.

The embassy says a review of Israeli and Palestinian probes into the May 11 killing, during a gunfight in Jenin as Israeli soldiers attempted to carry out an arrest raid, finds that Israel was likely the culprit.

“By summarizing both investigations, the [US Security Coordinator] concluded that gunfire from IDF positions was likely responsible for the death of Shireen Abu Akleh. The USSC found no reason to believe that this was intentional but rather the result of tragic circumstances,” the embassy says.