The IDF rejected on Wednesday an assessment by CNN, based on accounts from Palestinians who supposedly witnessed the death of Al Jazeera reporter Shireen Abu Akleh during clashes in the Jenin refugee camp on May 11, that Israeli forces "intentionally" fired at journalists on the scene.
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The IDF, which is probing the incident, says Abu Akleh was killed in a complex shootout between soldiers and terrorists, and that only a full investigation – including forensic analysis of the bullet – can prove who fired the fatal shot. However, the Palestinians have refused to hand over the bullet or cooperate with Israel in any way on the investigation.
The IDF on Wednesday called allegations that Abu Akleh or other press members had been targeted by Israeli forces "baseless."
According to Israel, Abu Akleh was likely killed in one of two scenarios – either by a stray bullet fired by IDF forces, or indiscriminate shooting by the Palestinians.
Lior Nadivi, a former crime scene investigator and firearms examiner for the Israeli police, said the bullet that killed Abu Akleh would potentially contain a trove of evidence.
A deformation might indicate it ricocheted. Markings would show the type of weapon, and a microscopic signature could potentially be used to match the bullet to a specific firearm. He said there was "no way" to tamper with a bullet without leaving obvious marks on it.
But Nadivi said it was also important to have a full picture of what happened.
"You need to position all the people who fired in the general direction of this journalist and then try to analyze what happened to each bullet," he said. "There is a lot of information that you need, and right now we've got nothing."
Lt. Col. Amnon Shefler, an IDF spokesman, says there was at least one Palestinian gunman on the road between the troops and the journalists, "in the vicinity" of Abu Akleh. That terrorist allegedly fired multiple times at one of the army vehicles, and a soldier inside it returned fire with a rifle equipped with a telescopic scope.
The army's probe has zeroed in on that rifle, Shefler said, though it still believes a stray Palestinian bullet could have killed her.
The army says it cannot provide an answer without comparing the bullet to the weapon. "Without the possibility of examining the bullet, the doubt remains," Maj. Gen. Yifat Tomer-Yerushalmi, the army's chief prosecutor, said in a speech Monday.
She said that because the killing occurred in an active combat zone, there would be no decision on whether to open a criminal investigation until the initial probe is complete.
CNN reported that all the journalists at the scene on May 11 were wearing blue bulletproof vests identifying them as press.
The American network also reported that two video clips from the scene of the shooting appear to show that there was no "active" engagement at the time the bullet was fired, and no Palestinian terrorists near Abu Akleh at the time of the incident. CNN reported that the videos had been "confirmed" by reports from eight eyewitnesses, a forensic expert, and a ballistics expert, all of whom said that she had been "targeted" by Israeli forces.
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MKs from the Joint Arab List were quick to respond to the CNN report. Mk Aida Touma-Sliman tweeted: "The CNN report about the murder of Shireen Abu Akleh clearing points to her being killed by an Israeli sniper. Israel has no convincing claim that it was shots fired by Palestinians. The Israeli government must find the sniper and try him. Shireen's death must not be forgotten."
Meanwhile, a reconstruction of the shooting by The Associated Press also lent support to assertions from both Palestinian authorities and Abu Akleh's colleagues that the bullet that cut her down came from an Israeli gun.
Any conclusive answer is likely to prove elusive because of the severe distrust between the two sides, each of which is in sole possession of potentially crucial evidence.
Multiple videos and photos taken on the morning of May 11 show an IDF convoy parked just up a narrow road from Abu Akleh, with a clear line of sight. They show the reporters and other bystanders in real time taking cover from bullets fired from the direction of the convoy.
AP reporters visited the location where Abu Akleh was killed on the edge of the Jenin refugee camp in the northern West Bank, as well as the scene of a nearby battle with Israeli forces captured on a video shared by Israel.
Interviews with five Palestinian eyewitnesses corroborate an analysis by the Dutch-based Bellingcat research group indicating Israeli forces were closer to Abu Akleh and had a better line of sight. The group, which specializes in geolocating events in war zones by analyzing photos and video shared online, pinpointed the location of the convoy just up a narrow road from where Abu Akleh was killed.
Reporters who were with Abu Akleh say that when they arrived at the scene it was quiet, with no clashes or militants in the immediate area. Ali Samoudi, an Al Jazeera producer from Jenin, said he called people inside the camp to get an idea of what was happening.
Then they proceeded to a long, narrow road sloping up from an open area to a cluster of concrete buildings where an Israeli army convoy was parked some 200 meters away. Each reporter was wearing a helmet and a blue vest labeled "PRESS" in large lettering.
"We stepped out into the open so they could see us," Samoudi told the AP. "They didn't indicate that we should leave, so we went slowly, walking forward about 20 meters."
Shatha Hanaysheh, a local photographer, said they remained there for five to 10 minutes, talking and even laughing in full view of the soldiers. A video that appears to capture the first shots supports her account.
Samoudi said the soldiers fired a warning shot, causing him to duck and run backwards. The second shot hit him in the back. Abu Akleh was shot in the head and appears to have died instantly, Hanaysheh sheltered on the other side of a tree next to a wall. Tree bark on the side facing the army appears to have been chipped away by gunfire or shrapnel.
