Tension is growing between Israel and Palestine. Clashes opposed, this Friday, May 13, in Jerusalem the Israeli police to Palestinians who participated in the funeral of Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh, shot dead this week during a report in the West Bank. Security forces, who faced dozens of protesters waving Palestinian flags and singing nationalist songs at the compound of St. Joseph’s Hospital in East Jerusalem, charged at the start of the funeral procession, footage shows of TV. The European Union said it was « dismayed » by the use of « unnecessary » force.
2/2Such disproportionate behavior only fuels further tensions. Shereen still received an honorable farewell in the St Andrew’s Church and the Mount Zion Cemetery. May she rest in peace.
— EU and Palestinians (@EUpalestinians) May 13, 2022
The Palestinians carrying the journalist’s coffin were pushed towards a wall and nearly knocked the deceased down. Israeli police said participants in the procession, whom they described as rioters, had started throwing stones. « The police were forced to act, » she said. Minutes later, Shireen Abu Akleh’s coffin was placed in a vehicle which headed to the Cathedral of the Annunciation of the Virgin in Jerusalem’s walled Old City, where the ceremony was held peacefully .
Israeli army investigation criticized
Shireen Abu Akleh, who had covered Palestinian affairs and the Middle East for more than two decades, was shot and killed while reporting on an Israeli operation in the West Bank on Wednesday. The Israeli army said on Friday that its preliminary investigation « concluded that it is not possible to unequivocally determine the source of the shots that hit and killed Mrs. Abu Akleh ».
The investigation raised two possibilities, the army said in a statement. The first, that Shireen Abu Akleh was hit by Palestinian militants who fired dozens of bullets in the direction of Israeli military vehicles, « which is also the direction where Mrs. Abu Akleh was ». The second, that it was hit by return fire from an Israeli soldier, who was in a jeep and aimed at a Palestinian gunman. The vehicle was about 200 meters from the journalist, the army said.
A European communiqué against colonization
During the funeral, a press release was issued by several European countries, including France and Germany. They said they were « deeply concerned » by Israel’s decision to allow the construction of more than 4,000 new homes in Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank. According to the pacifist organization Peace Now, the Israeli High Planning Committee gave the green light on Thursday to the construction of 4,427 new housing units, including 2,791 on a permanent basis.
In a joint press release, Germany, Belgium, Denmark, Spain, Finland, France, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Malta, Norway, the Netherlands and Poland consider that « these new housing units would constitute an additional obstacle to the achievement of the two-state solution », currently at a standstill. European countries recall that « settlement is a flagrant violation of international law and hinders the establishment of a just, comprehensive and lasting peace between Israelis and Palestinians ». “We urge the Israeli authorities to reverse this decision,” they say.
In the same press release, the Europeans call on Israel to stop « the demolitions and (the) evictions of which the Palestinian populations are victims in East Jerusalem », particularly in the Massafer Yatta district.
US President Joe Biden also discussed this Friday, May 13 with King Abdullah II of Jordan, visiting Washington, « mechanisms » to stem violence in Israel and the West Bank, according to the White House. The two leaders “discussed urgent mechanisms to stem the violence, calm the rhetoric and reduce tensions in Israel and the West Bank,” a statement said.
Read alsoIsrael hit by a wave of attacks
On the Israeli side, another death is put forward. An Israeli policeman injured on Friday (May 13) in an army raid near the Palestinian town of Jenin in the northern occupied West Bank has succumbed to his injuries, the office of Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett announced. . « Today we lost a true hero, a brave fighter … who put himself in danger for the security of Israel » in an operation « against terrorists » near Jenin, says the Prime Minister in a statement.
(With AFP)
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