UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is “deeply affected” by the actions of “some Israeli policemen” in East Jerusalem at the start of the procession for the funeral of slain journalist Shireen Abu Akleh, spokesman Farhan Haq said on Friday.
“He is deeply affected by the clashes between Israeli security forces and Palestinians gathered at St. Joseph’s Hospital, and by the behavior of some police officers present at the scene,” the spokesman said.
The incidents erupted when police tried to disperse the crowd after the reporter’s coffin was released from the hospital in East Jerusalem, an Israeli-occupied sector of the holy city.
Guterres “continues to urge respect for fundamental human rights, including the freedoms of opinion and expression, and of peaceful assembly,” he added.
Also, the secretary-general is “moved by the outpouring of sympathy from thousands of Palestinian mourners in the past two days, a testament to the work and life” of the Palestinian-American journalist, the spokesman said.
Shireen Abu Akleh, a figure for the Qatari network Al Jazeera, died on Wednesday from a gunshot to the head while covering an Israeli military raid on the Jenin refugee camp in the northern West Bank, a Palestinian territory occupied by Israel since 1967.
