The US criticized Friday’s Israeli attacks on mourners and pallbearers during Palestinian-American Shireen Abu Akleh’s funeral procession in Jerusalem as “deeply disturbing.”
“We regret the intrusion of what should have been a peaceful procession. We’ve urged respect for the funeral procession, the mourners and the family at this sensitive time,” White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said.
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As her casket was being carried, hundreds of Palestinians were seen hoisting the Palestinian flag and chanting.
Shortly after, Israeli forces rushed at the mourners, attacking them with batons, including the pallbearers and leading to the coffin dropping.
“This is a day where we should all be marking, including everyone there, the memory of a remarkable journalist who lost her life,” Psaki said.
Abu Akleh, a reporter for Al Jazeera, was shot and killed this week while reporting on an Israeli military raid in the occupied West Bank’s Jenin. Palestine and her outlet have accused the Israeli military of killing her.
Video footage showed Abu Akleh, 51, wearing a flak jacket with “Press” clearly visible.
Israel said it was Palestinian gunmen who were responsible for her death before later backtracking and saying an investigation was going to be carried out.
Previous Israeli investigations into killed Palestinian reporters have failed to reach a verdict. But the US has said Israel could carry out a thorough investigation. Palestine has said it will not cooperate with the Israeli investigation and said it would not hand over remnants of the bullet that killed Abu Akleh.
Read more: Violence erupts as Shireen Abu Akleh’s coffin emerges from Jerusalem hospital
