Ramallah blasts US for ‘unacceptable’ conclusion on journalist’s death

The Palestinian Authority slams the United States for not definitively blaming Israel for the death of Al Jazeera correspondent Shireen Abu Akleh.

An American probe found that the bullet that killed Abu Akleh was too damaged to definitively rule who had fired it through ballistic analysis.

“We were surprised by these statements. The technical data in our possession indicates that the condition of the shell is viable for matching with the firearm [that shot it],”  PA Public Prosecutor Akram al-Khatib says in a statement.

The probe also found no evidence that the shooting was intentional, as Palestinian Authority investigators led by al-Khatib had claimed.

Al-Khatib calls that conclusion “unacceptable” in light of evidence collected by the PA.

Senior Palestinian Authority official Hussein al-Sheikh also appears to criticize the US, saying that “we will not permit attempts to conceal the truth or timid comments in indicting Israel.”

Al-Sheikh vows that the PA will continue pursuing Abu Akleh’s case “before the international courts.”