Israel PM rejects US probe into killing of Shireen Abu Akleh

By ISABEL DEBRE
Associated Press

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel’s departing prime minister says Israel will not participate in an American investigation into the fatal shooting of a prominent Al Jazeera correspondent in the occupied West Bank. Yair Lapid on Tuesday was responding to reports that the U.S. Justice Department was opening a probe into the killing of 51-year-old Shireen Abu Akleh last May in Jenin, a Palestinian city. Akleh was a Palestinian-American journalist. A Justice Department spokesman had no comment. But an FBI probe into the actions of an ally would mark a rare — if not unprecedented — step, threatening to strain close ties between the countries. Lapid said Israeli soldiers will not be investigated by any foreign country, “however friendly.”