Israel rebuffed Wednesday US pressure to review IDF rules of engagement following the killing of Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh, who, according a recent military report, could have been killed by an Israeli soldier.
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Prime Minister Yair Lapid said no one would dictate to Israel how to protect itself.
"We are deeply committed to freedom of the press and some of the most stringent rules of engagement in the world, but to be clear, I will not allow an IDF soldier that was protecting himself from terrorist fire to be prosecuted just to receive applause from abroad," he said. Akleh's death "was a tragedy that transpired in an incident in which there was heavy enemy fire. The IDF never intentionally shoots at innocent people."
Similarly, Defense Minister Benny Gantz said that there never was and never will be political involvement in the matter.
"IDF soldiers have our full backing to carry out their mission," he said, stressing that "the chief of staff, and he alone, determines and will continue to determine the open-fire policies, in accordance with the operational need and the values of the IDF, including the purity of arms."
Prime Minister-designate Naftali Bennett too rejected the claims, saying that "at any given time, there are Palestinian terrorists trying to murder Israelis. Not the other way around. We do not take pulling the trigger lightly, but the moral directive is to hit terrorists and save human lives."
Earlier, US State Department deputy spokesman Vedant Patel clarified Washington's position on the results of the military review conducted by the IDF that were announced on Monday.
"We're going to continue to press our Israeli partners to closely review its policies and practices on rules of engagement and consider additional steps to mitigate the risk of civilian harm, protect journalists and prevent similar tragedies in the future. That is a key goal for us," he said at a regular briefing.
The IDF has said that soldiers had been under massive fire for almost an hour from multiple directions before Abu Akleh was shot, a detail that was omitted by some foreign media outlets. The military released several videos showing Palestinian terrorists firing automatic weapons and soldiers coming under fire that day.
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