Today, thousands of Palestinians attended the funeral of Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh, who was killed on Wednesday in the occupied West Bank while reporting on an Israeli military raid, the Beta agency reports.
Al Jazeera Balkans reports that Abu Akleh was killed by Israeli forces this week while reporting in the occupied West Bank.
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The final farewell began with a procession from the hospital in East Jerusalem's Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood, where Abu Akleh's body remained overnight, to the Jaffa Gate in Jerusalem's Old City, where the funeral will take place in the cathedral there in the afternoon.
But right at the beginning, conflicts were recorded.
Israeli security forces beat bystanders who wanted to walk past the casket containing Abu Akleh's body in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood, not allowing them to carry it.
Beta Agency reports that violence broke out in annexed East Jerusalem when the coffin with the journalist's remains was taken out of the hospital and the Israeli police dispersed the crowd waving Palestinian flags.
During the broadcast of local television, it was seen that at one point the coffin fell to the ground, and then it was carried to a church in the Old City of Jerusalem, the agencies reported.
Israel conquered East Jerusalem in the 1967 war and later annexed it, and the Palestinians plan to make that part of Jerusalem the capital of their future state.
Israeli leaders, however, maintain that a united Jerusalem will forever remain Israel's capital, even though the annexation is not internationally recognized.
Today, Palestinians in East Jerusalem shouted that they would die so that Palestine would live and called that city their beloved home, and later sang the Palestinian national anthem, AP reported.
Israeli authorities said the journalist was likely shot by Palestinian fire, but later said they did not rule out the possibility that the fatal bullet was fired by Israeli soldiers.
The Palestinian Authority, Al Jazeera, the Qatari TV Channel for which the Palestinian journalist worked, and the Government of Qatar have accused the Israeli army of her murder.
The Israeli army announced today that the first investigation into the journalist's death showed that a fierce exchange of fire broke out in Jenin about 200 meters from where she was killed, but that it was unable to conclude whether she was hit by Israeli forces or Palestinian extremists.
The journalist was complained about in the Palestinian territories and in Arab countries.
Abu Akleh has spent a quarter of a century reporting on the difficult life under Israeli military rule, which has lasted nearly 55 years and was widely respected, according to the AP.
After tense scenes in front of the hospital, the police allowed the family to transport the coffin to the Catholic church in the Old Town, full of believers, while tens of demonstrators were dispersed with tear gas in front of the hospital.
After the service, thousands of people headed to the cemetery, waving Palestinian flags and chanting "Palestine, Palestine."
The police later announced that those gathered around the hospital shouted nationalist slogans and ignored calls to stop. In addition, they threw stones at the police officers who were forced to respond.
A few hours later, the body of the deceased was buried in the cemetery outside the Old Town.
It could be expected that the two sides mutually suspect the results of separate investigations into the murder of a 51-year-old journalist who became famous by reporting on the second Palestinian uprising, the intifada, against the Israeli occupation in the early 2000s.
Human rights organizations remind that Israel rarely conducts thorough investigations and that it lightly punishes the perpetrators if it finds them.
The death of Abu Akleh, however, caused strong condemnations because she was not only a famous journalist but also a US citizen.
Bišara: Why is this type of violence necessary?
Al Jazeera's political analyst Marwan Bishara, commenting on today's attack on those present at the funeral, said "why is this type of violence necessary?"
Al Jazeera's reporter from occupied East Jerusalem, Imran Khan, said Israeli forces were beating attendees because they did not want to walk alongside the casket.
"There was a jostling between the Israeli army and the people who wanted to take Shirin's body to the church," he said. "They wanted to walk around with her body," he said.
After the casket was brought into the church, the priest who led the ceremony, Fadi Diab, said: "We don't believe in the love of power, but in the power of love."
"The Palestinian case cannot be compared to any other violence in the world or war, because the nations that led it still have their identities and their land, but we have lost ours," he said.
After the religious ceremony, the coffin was taken out of the church, and the burial will follow next to her parents in the nearby Protestant cemetery.
"Entered the heart of every Palestinian"
Khan added that Israeli forces arrested at least four Palestinians, including two who were displaying the Palestinian flag.
Palestinian human rights activist Diana Butu called the killing of Abu Akleh "a blow to the world."
"She entered the heart of every Palestinian, I would even dare to say, Arab household, because of her moving reporting on the reality of the brutal Israeli occupation," she said.
"Shirin is not the first journalist killed by Israel, and I'm afraid she won't be the last either. It's time for Israel to answer," she added.
Israeli police raided the Abu Akleh family home on Thursday, forcibly removing the Palestinian flag, Al Jazeera Balkans reports.
Israeli police summoned Anton Abu Akleh, brother of the murdered journalist, for an interview on Thursday evening.
According to Israeli media reports, the police warned him that they would disperse the funeral procession if there was an "escalation".
See you off in Ramallah
Palestinians bid farewell to Abu Akleh in Ramallah on Thursday. Abu Akleh's body was transferred from the Istishari hospital in the occupied West Bank to the presidential complex of the Palestinian Authority, where Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas paid tribute to her, who said that Israel was responsible for the journalist's murder.
"The occupation will not hide the truth, and the crime should not go unpunished," the Palestinian president said, stressing that Palestine would not accept a joint investigation with Israel into the killing of Abu Akleh.
He promised to take the case to the International Criminal Court. The murdered journalist was also given a military honor.
Israel's army chief denied claims that Abu Akleh, who was killed in a refugee camp in Jenin, in the occupied West Bank, may have been hit by stray bullets fired by Palestinian fighters.
General Aviv Kochavi said it was unclear who fired the shot that killed Shirin Abu Akleh, in an event that sparked strong reactions from around the world.
The Israeli military initially raised the possibility that the veteran Al Jazeera journalist was killed by Palestinian fire, saying that armed Palestinians were also present at the scene at the same time.
The Israeli military released a video on Wednesday showing Palestinians shooting in an alley in the Jenin camp, noting that the video was meant to bolster its claim that armed Palestinians were opening fire in the area at the time.
An Al Jazeera investigation has found that a video used by Israel to suggest that Palestinian fighters fired the shot that killed an Al Jazeera journalist was not linked to her death.
Also, the Israeli human rights group B'Tselem conducted its own investigation into the claims and released a video on Wednesday that cast doubt on the Israeli military's narrative.
Condemnations of the EU and the USA
The European Union called for an "independent" investigation into the death of the Al Jazeera reporter, while US Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield said the killing should be "transparently investigated".
Members of the US Congress condemned the killing of Abu Akleh and called for an independent investigation.
Palestinian human rights groups in the US have called on US President Joseph Biden to demand an independent investigation, arguing that Israel must not be allowed to do it alone.
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