JERUSALEM — The bullet that killed Shireen Abu Akleh, the Palestinian American journalist shot in the occupied West Bank in May, was most likely fired from Israeli military lines but was too damaged to say for sure, the State Department said on Monday.
A State Department statement released after American officials observed Israeli ballistic tests said the damage to the bullet made it difficult to draw a definitive conclusion about the gun it was fired from. But shots fired from the position of the Israel Defense Forces were “likely responsible for the death,” the statement said U.S. officials had concluded after reviewing evidence compiled by both Israeli and Palestinian investigators.
U.S. officials “found no reason to believe that this was intentional but rather the result of tragic circumstances during an I.D.F.-led military operation,” the statement added.
The inconclusive U.S. findings only deepened the dispute over who killed Ms. Abu Akleh, a veteran broadcaster for Al Jazeera and a household name in the Middle East, following an international outcry over the shooting. After the State Department issued its findings, her family accused the U.S. of attempting to limit Israeli liability for her killing, while the Israeli government said the findings showed that it remained impossible to draw definitive conclusions.
A monthlong investigation by The New York Times found that the bullet that killed Ms. Abu Akleh had been fired from the approximate location of an Israeli military convoy early that morning, most likely by a soldier from an elite unit, corroborating eyewitness reports from the scene.
Ms. Abu Akleh was killed on May 11 while covering an early morning Israeli Army raid in the West Bank city of Jenin, during which there were multiple exchanges of fire between Israeli soldiers and armed Palestinians in different locations.
Palestinian officials have said she was intentionally killed by an Israeli soldier.
But the Israeli government had cast doubt on that, saying that she was hit by either an Israeli soldier or a Palestinian gunman firing indiscriminately during clashes with Israeli soldiers. Israeli officers have said that an Israeli soldier from Duvdevan, an elite unit, fired in Ms. Abu Akleh’s direction, but that it was impossible to determine who shot her without examining the bullet. Israel has repeatedly insisted its soldiers would not intentionally harm a journalist.
American investigators believe that Ms. Abu Akleh’s killing was the unintentional result of crossfire, said a senior U.S. official, who was not authorized to discuss the matter publicly and requested anonymity.
But evidence reviewed by The New York Times showed that there were no armed Palestinians near Ms. Abu Akleh when she and her colleagues came under fire.
Forensics experts can match a bullet with the rifle that fired it, based on microscopic marks left on the surface of the bullet as it exits the rifle barrel. But photographs showed the bullet was partly crushed. An autopsy conducted by the Palestinian Authority concluded that the bullet hit the side of Ms. Abu Akleh’s helmet after passing through her head.
The U.S. conclusions followed a weekslong standoff in which the Palestinian leadership refused to give the bullet to Israeli investigators because it did not trust them, and the Israeli Army refused to give Palestinians the rifle, drawing the U.S. into a mediation role.
The need for a resolution became more urgent in recent days because it threatened to overshadow discussions during a visit next week by President Biden to Israel and the West Bank — his first to the region as head of state. Ms. Abu Akleh’s killing led to pressure on Mr. Biden from American lawmakers who demanded greater U.S. involvement in the investigation into the death of an American citizen.
The bullet was finally handed over on Saturday to Lt. Gen. Michael R. Fenzel, the United States security coordinator for Israel and the Palestinian Authority, according to a Western diplomat briefed on the investigation. The diplomat, who was not authorized to discuss the matter publicly, requested anonymity.
Gen. Fenzel took the bullet to an Israeli government ballistics laboratory, and it was examined by Israeli analysts for several hours in the presence of American officials, said the diplomat.
An Israeli Army rifle, which the Israelis said a soldier used to fire in the direction of Ms. Abu Akleh, was also examined, said the diplomat and the senior U.S. official. The bullet was then returned to the Palestinian Authority.
For Palestinians, Ms. Abu Akleh’s death came to embody the dangers and frustrations of living under Israeli military occupation. Palestinian deaths rarely attract international scrutiny, and soldiers accused of crimes against Palestinians in the West Bank are rarely convicted.
She was killed amid a wave of Palestinian attacks that killed 19 Israelis and foreigners. Some of the attackers had come from the Jenin region, and in response, the Israeli military launched several raids into the area, during which its soldiers were often met with Palestinian gunfire.
Ms. Abu Akleh’s family accused the U.S. of trying to shield Israel, a sentiment echoed by several senior Palestinian officials including a spokesman for the Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas.
“The focus on the bullet has always been misplaced and was an attempt by the Israeli side to spin the narrative in its favor, as if this were some kind of police whodunit that could be solved by a C.S.I.-style forensic test,” the family said in a statement circulated by Ms. Abu Akleh’s niece.
“The truth is that the Israeli military killed Shireen according to policies that view all Palestinians — civilian, press or otherwise — as legitimate targets, and we were expecting that an American investigation would focus on finding the responsible parties and holding them accountable, not parsing over barely relevant details and then assuming good faith on behalf of a recalcitrant and hostile occupying power,” the family’s statement added.
The Israeli defense minister, Benny Gantz, on Monday reiterated that the military was continuing to investigate the shooting and cannot yet draw any conclusions.
“Unfortunately, it is not possible to determine the source of the shooting — and as such, the investigation will continue,” he said in a statement. “It is important to emphasize that during this operational event, like in many others, hundreds of bullets were fired at I.D.F. troops,” he added.
“The first to bear responsibility in such events, are the terrorists who operate from within population centers,” Mr. Gantz said.
Patrick Kingsley reported from Jerusalem and Lara Jakes from Washington. Gabby Sobelman contributed reporting from Rehovot, Israel, and Isabel Kershner from Jerusalem.
