JERUSALEM – PALESTINE – May 14 (ONLINE) Israeli police officers charged at Palestinian mourners carrying the coffin of Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh on Friday, before thousands led her casket through Jerusalem’s Old City in an outpouring of grief and anger over her killing.
Packed around Abu Akleh’s coffin, dozens of Palestinians, some waving Palestinian flags and chanting, “with our soul and blood we will redeem you Shireen,” began walking toward the gates of St. Joseph’s Hospital.
Israeli police officers, in an apparent bid to stop them proceeding by foot rather than taking the coffin by car, burst through the courtyard gates and charged at the crowd, some beating pallbearers with batons and kicking them.
At one point the group carrying her coffin backed against a wall and almost dropped the casket, recovering it just before one end hit the ground as stun grenades detonated.
The violent scenes, which lasted only minutes, added to Palestinian outrage over Abu Akleh’s killing, which has threatened to fuel violence that has surged since March.
Abu Akleh, who had covered Palestinian affairs and the Middle East for more than two decades, was shot while reporting on an Israeli raid in the occupied West Bank on Wednesday.
Palestinian authorities have described Abu Akleh’s killing as an assassination by Israeli forces. Israel’s government initially suggested Palestinian fire might have been to blame, but officials have also said they could not rule out it was Israeli gunfire that killed her.
Israeli police said a group of Palestinians outside the hospital, whom they described as rioters, had begun throwing stones at officers.
“The policemen were forced to act,” they added.
The White House found the images disturbing, press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters, and U.S. officials will remain in close contact with Israeli and Palestinian authorities in the aftermath of Akleh’s funeral.
“Every family deserves to be able to lay their loved ones to rest in a dignified and unimpeded manner,” U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said.
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