Cuba expressed this Friday its “strongest” condemnation of the “cruel and inhumane” behavior of the israeli police against the participants in the funeral of the Palestinian journalist Shireen Abu Akleh, who was shot dead when covered an army raid of Israel in the occupied West Bank.
“Our strongest condemnation of the cruel and inhumane behavior of the Israeli forces during the burial of the journalist Shireen Abu Akleh,” Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez wrote on Twitter.
The Cuban foreign minister also reaffirmed the “invariable solidarity” of the Government of Havana “with the Palestinian people and their just cause.”
Akleh, 51, died Wednesday from a bullet to the head while covering a raid in the Jenin refugee camp in the occupied West Bank.
Our strongest condemnation of the cruel and inhumane behavior of the Israeli forces during the burial of the journalist Shireen Abu Akleh.
We reaffirm our unwavering solidarity with the Palestinian people and their just cause. pic.twitter.com/bghhEYgpao
– Bruno Rodríguez P (@BrunoRguezP) May 13, 2022
The clashes between those attending the funeral and the Israeli police began when the body of the journalist from the Qatari network Al Jazeera He was transferred from the Saint Joseph Hospital, in occupied East Jerusalem, to the Melkite Greek Catholic Church in the Old City, where a pre-burial mass was held in the presence of thousands of people.
Israeli police lashed out at attendees carrying the coffin, draped in the Palestinian flag, a banner that cannot be displayed in Israel, which has controlled eastern Jerusalem since annexing it in 1980.
The Palestinian Red Crescent emergency service reported that 33 people had to be treated as a result of the police action against the attendees, and six of them had to be transferred to a hospital.
The president of the United States, Joe Biden, called this Friday for an investigation into the events. Previously, the White House spokeswoman, Jen Psaki, had described the images of her funeral as “disturbing” in the daily press conference.
The burial marked the end of three straight days of ceremonies in honor of the journalist, which began on Wednesday in cities in the northern West Bank, followed on Thursday with a state funeral at the Palestinian presidential palace in Ramallah and culminated with her burial in Jerusalem.
The Palestinian National Authority (PNA) and the Arab League blame Israel for the death of Akleh, considered an icon in the Arab world after 25 years of experience in Al Jazeera.
Israel and the PNA are conducting two parallel investigations to determine who fired the bullet that killed her. During the incidents there were also Palestinian militiamen shooting, whom the Israeli Prime Minister, Naftali Benet, accused of the death at first, although the Government later qualified that version.
A report released this Friday by the Israeli Army with the first results of the initial investigation reiterated the impossibility of reaching an accurate conclusion for now, something that was also indicated by the Palestinian doctors who performed the autopsy on the informant.
