Jerusalem/Ramallah:
Israel said Sunday it would test a bullet that killed a Palestinian-American journalist to determine if one of its soldiers had shot her and said a US observer would be on hand for the procedure that could yield results within hours.
The Palestinians, who handed the bullet to a US security coordinator on Saturday, said they were assured Israel would not participate in the ballistics.
Washington has not yet responded. The United States has a holiday weekend on the occasion of July 4.
The death of Al Jazeera reporter Shireen Abu Akleh on May 11 during an Israeli raid on the occupied West Bank, and an argument between the parties over the circumstances, has overshadowed a visit by US President Joe Biden scheduled for this month.
The Palestinians accuse the Israeli army of deliberately murdering her. Israel denies this, saying Abu Akleh may have been hit by errant army fire or by one of the Palestinian gunmen who collided with his troops.
“The (ballistics) test will not be American. The test will be an Israeli test, with American presence everywhere,” Israeli military spokesman Brigadier General Ran Kochav said.
“In the coming days or hours it will become clear whether it was even us who accidentally killed her or whether it was the Palestinian gunmen,” he told Army Radio. “If we kill her, we will take responsibility and regret what happened.”
Palestinian Authority attorney general Akram al-Khatib said the test would take place at the US embassy in Jerusalem.
“We have received assurances from the US coordinator that the investigation will be conducted by them and that the Israeli side will not participate,” Al-Khatib told Voice of Palestine radio, adding that he expected the bullet to be returned on Sunday.
An embassy spokesman said: “We have nothing new at this time.”
Biden is expected to hold separate meetings with Palestinian and Israeli leaders on July 13-16. The Abu Akleh case will be a diplomatic and domestic test for new Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid.
Israeli Deputy Homeland Security Minister Yoav Segalovitz said Lapid had been involved in “managing the arrival and transfer of this bullet”.
“It will take a few days to conduct a ballistics test, with several experts, to make sure there is an unambiguous assessment,” Segalovitz told Army Radio.
(This story was not edited by DailyExpertNews staff and was generated automatically from a syndicated feed.)