The head of the American diplomacy called the family of Shireen Abu Akleh

A photo of Al Jazeera reporter Shireen Abu Akleh.

PA

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It is a very political gesture by Anthony Blinken who spoke, this Saturday, May 14, 2022, with the family of the Palestinian-American journalist.

The Al Jazeera journalist was shot in the head in Jenin, in the northern West Bank, on May 11.

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It was from his plane, between Washington and Berlin, that Anthony Blinken presented " 

his deep condolences

 " to those close to Shireen Abu Akleh.

He, according to his cabinet, took note of all of his journalistic work and underlined the importance of the role of a free and independent press.

Blinken offered the support of US diplomats in Jerusalem to the journalist's family, who also held US citizenship, according to the same source.

Joe Biden's Secretary of State had already taken up the matter earlier this week.

He said he was deeply disturbed by the attitude of the Israeli police

during the funeral of Shireen Abu Akleh

.

This Friday, his funeral in Jerusalem was interrupted by Israeli police armed with batons trying to disperse the crowd waving Palestinian flags, and his coffin, heckled by the arrival of the security forces, had almost fallen before be caught in extremis by its carriers.

We were deeply troubled by the images of Israeli police intruding into the funeral procession of Palestinian American Shireen Abu Akleh.

Every family deserves to lay their loved ones to rest in a dignified and unimpeded manner.

— Secretary Antony Blinken (@SecBlinken) May 13, 2022

After accusing Palestinian fighters of having killed her, Israel was forced

to open an investigation

into the circumstances of the journalist's death.

The authorities no longer rule out that an Israeli bullet could have hit him by ricochet.

(with AFP)

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