UN chief 'deeply disturbed' by actions at Palestinian journalist's funeral

By Michael Hernandez

WASHINGTON (AA) - UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres was "deeply disturbed" by the actions of "some" Israeli officers who violently attacked slain journalist Shireen Abu Akleh's funeral procession, his spokesman said on Friday.

Guterres "was deeply disturbed by the confrontations between Israeli security forces and Palestinians gathered at St. Joseph Hospital, and the behavior of some police present at the scene," spokesman Farhan Haq said in a statement.

"He continues to urge respect for fundamental human rights, including the rights to freedom of opinion and expression and to peaceful assembly," he added.

Earlier 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 French hospital in East Jerusalem's Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood.

Abu Akleh, a veteran 51 year-old journalist, was covering Israeli military raids 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.