Shireen Abu Aqleh
Shireen Abu AqlehReuters

The Palestinian Authority (PA) on Sunday called on Israel to hand over the gun that allegedly fired the shot which killed Al Jazeera reporter Shireen Abu Aqleh, who was shot dead on May 11 while covering clashes between IDF soldiers and terrorists in Jenin, AFP reports.

Israel has asked the PA to provide the bullet extracted from Abu Aqleh’s body so Israel can conduct its investigation into her death, with PA and American representatives present.

"We have refused to hand over the bullet to them, and we even demand that they hand over the weapon that murdered Shireen Abu Aqleh," PA cabinet leader Mohammed Shtayyeh said at a ceremony in Ramallah to mark 40 days since her death.

Israel has maintained that it is possible that an IDF soldier accidentally shot Abu Aqleh but it is also possible that she was shot by terrorists who were engaged in a firefight with IDF troops at the time and were firing wildly.

Israel has stated that without access to the bullet which killed her it is impossible to know which side fired the shot. The Palestinian Authority (PA) has refused Israel’s request to launch a joint probe to investigate the incident.

PA chief prosecutor Akram Khatib recently released the findings of the PA's investigation into the death of Abu Aqleh, who was shot during clashes between IDF soldiers and terrorists in Jenin, and claimed that she was shot by IDF forces.

The PA report came two days after CNN published a report in which it similarly claimed that Israel was responsible for Abu Aqleh’s death.

Al Jazeera last week showed what it claimed was the bullet that killed Abu Aqleh, presenting a 5.5 mm bullet, designed to pierce armor, and claimed it is used in an M4 rifle.

Al Jazeera said the bullet was marked in green, indicating it was IDF issued ammunition, but Palestinian Arab gunmen use the same bullets, many of which were stolen from IDF bases.