Ramallah: Thousands of Palestinians on Thursday honored Al Jazeera journalist Shirin Abu Aqleh at a memorial service in the occupied West Bank, a day after she was shot during an Israeli military raid.
Israel and the Palestinians have traded blame over the killing of 51-year-old Palestinian-American Abu Aqleh, a veteran of the network’s Arabic service, during the conflict in the Jenin refugee camp.
The US, the European Union and the United Nations have backed calls for a full investigation into what Al Jazeera marked as intentional killing “in cold blood”, but the Palestinian Authority has rejected a joint investigation with Israel.
In a sign of Abu Aqleh’s stature among Palestinians, he was described as a full state memorial at President Mahmoud Abbas’s Ramallah complex, which was attended by foreign diplomats, prominent Arab Israeli politicians and senior Palestinian leaders.
Thousands stood in the streets as his coffin, draped in a Palestinian flag, was carried from the West Bank city.
Many held flowers, wreaths and photographs of Abu Aqleh, who has been widely praised for his bravery and professionalism and has been well received by Arabic audiences since covering the second Palestinian intifada, or uprising, from 2000 to 2005. was known from.
“This crime should not be spared,” Abbas said.
He insisted that the PA held Israel “fully responsible” for his death, and “refused and rejected” Israel’s proposal for a joint investigation.
Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said on Wednesday that it was “likely” that Abu Akleh was killed by Palestinian bullets – but Defense Minister Benny Gantz later admitted it was “the Palestinians shot him” or that “our Shot from the side.”
“We’re not sure how he was killed,” Gantz said. “We’re investigating.”
Tariq Ahmed, 45, wrapped in a Palestinian scarf in the early morning sun, described the death as a “tragedy for all nations”, comparing his grief to that felt at the funeral of iconic Palestinian President Yasser Arafat.
“I haven’t felt this pain since Arafat died,” Ahmed said.
As the coffin of Abu Akleh was carried from the presidential compound to the beat of a marching band, the crowd raised slogans and demanded an end to Palestinian security cooperation with Israel.
The men fled with an ambulance on their way to the checkpoint barrier between Ramallah and Jerusalem.