Al Jazeera condemns Israeli attack on Shireen Abu Akleh’s funeral

Al Jazeera has condemned the attack by Israeli forces on the funeral procession of the network’s slain journalist Shireen Abu Akleh.

The veteran Al Jazeera journalist was killed by Israeli forces on Wednesday while on assignment covering an Israeli incursion in the Jenin refugee camp in the occupied West Bank.

Ahead of the burial on Friday, thousands had gathered to participate in a funeral march which Israeli forces would not allow. In shocking footage aired live on Al Jazeera, Israeli forces beat mourners, including those carrying Abu Akleh’s body, almost causing them to drop the coffin.

“Al Jazeera condemns Israeli occupation forces’ attack on the mourners carrying the coffin of murdered journalist Shireen Abu Akleh,” the Qatar-based network said on Friday.

“In a scene that violates all norms and International laws, the Israeli occupation forces stormed the French Hospital in Jerusalem and attacked the mourners of the late Shireen Abu Akleh at the start of the funeral procession. They severely beat the pallbearers of the late journalist,” the network said in a statement.

“Al Jazeera Media Network denounces this violence in the strongest terms, and holds the Israeli government fully responsible for the safety and security of all the mourners and the family of our colleague Shireen.”

The network also said that “such violence will not deter it from reporting the truth.”

Human rights experts with the United Nations have condemned Abu Akleh’s killing and called for a “prompt, independent, impartial, effective, thorough and transparent investigation” into her death.

Calls for an impartial probe have mounted since the journalist was shot dead on Wednesday, with the Palestinian leadership rejecting any investigation by Israel, which it called an “occupying authority”.