Israeli minister pledges probe into killing of Al Jazeera reporter

Israel’s defence minister has promised a thorough investigation into the killing of Al Jazeera reporter Shireen Abu Akleh and asked that Palestinian officials hand over the bullet that killed her.

Benny Gantz told reporters that Israel has been in touch with US and Palestinian officials and said all parts of the investigation would be made public.

While the military initially suggested Ms Abu Akleh might have been killed by stray fire from Palestinians, while she was covering an Israeli raid in the West Bank, Mr Gantz was more cautious on Wednesday evening, saying: “We are trying to figure out exactly what happened… I don’t have final conclusions.

“I am very sorry for what happened. Currently we do not know what was the direct cause of Shireen’s death.

“We are very decisive to have a full-scale investigation of this process, and we hope to get Palestinian co-operation on this issue.

“Without the report of the pathological findings and the forensic findings, it would be very hard for us to find out what happened on the ground.

“We investigated all the troops that were part of the operation. So far, we don’t have any final conclusion.”