French hospital accuses Israel of attacking journalist’s funeral

By Abdelraouf Arna'out

JERUSALEM (AA) – The French Hospital in occupied East Jerusalem on Monday accused Israeli police of assaulting the funeral procession of Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh.

On Friday, Israeli police surrounded mourners and used stun grenades and batons to assault pallbearers carrying Abu Akleh’s casket as it was being carried out of the hospital in East Jerusalem's Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood.

"What increases the awfulness of the scene is that it took place inside the hospital campus without any consideration for the sanctity of the place or the occasion," hospital director Jamil Kousa told a press conference.

He said the Israeli police attack took place although the hospital is sponsored by the Vatican and the French state.

“They stormed the hospital, attacked the casket and pallbearers, fired rubber bullets and scared patients and visitors,” Kousa lamented.

In the wake of international condemnations of the Israeli attack on the funeral, the Israeli police said it opened an investigation into the incident. Police said the results of the investigation will be presented to officials in the coming days.

Abu Akleh, a veteran 51 year-old journalist, was covering an Israeli military raid near the Jenin refugee camp in the occupied West Bank when she was shot dead on Wednesday. Palestinian officials and her employer, Al Jazeera, say she was murdered by Israeli forces.

*Writing by Ahmed Asmar