Coffin carrying veteran journalist’s body proven falling as Israeli police beat mourners with batons

Mourners had marched from Jerusalem's Jaffa Gate to Mount Zion cemetery. They have been met with violence at the St. Joseph hospital complex by Israeli police after they tried to hold Abu Akleh's coffin, which Al Jazeera footage confirmed being rocked and then falling out of the arms of a few of the pallbearers, as Israeli police beat them with batons.

Crowds walked behind as Abu Akleh's rose-covered coffin was carried by pallbearers and lain all the way down to rest next to her parents' grave. Church bells echoed by the cemetery.

The burial was going down a day after a memorial procession that brought hundreds to the West Financial institution metropolis of Ramallah.

Mourners flocked to the city's streets on Friday and huddled in entrance of St. Joseph hospital in East Jerusalem, the place Abu Akleh's physique remained till the burial. Muslims performed Friday prayers and mourners chanted "walking, walking on foot," demanding that Abu Akleh's coffin be carried and transported on foot from the hospital to the Greek Catholic church, where a service can be held, after which to the burial website. Israeli police had been lined outside the hospital, in keeping with CNN reporters. Police roadblocks had been arrange around the hospital.

Mourners carried Abu Akleh's coffin out of the hospital, but have been met with strong resistance from Israeli police who compelled them to transport the physique by automobile. A flash bomb and tear gas were fired, in accordance with CNN reporters.

Al Jazeera stay footage confirmed Israeli police beating mourners with batons as they struggled to carry Abu Akleh's coffin. The body was in flip introduced back inside the hospital after which transported by automobile, stated Al Jazeera.

Footage on social media and Al Jazeera confirmed Abu Akleh's coffin being rocked back and forth after which falling as Israeli police beat pallbearers with batons. It was not immediately clear if the coffin hit the bottom.

Israeli police in a press release said that "a whole bunch of rioters began to disrupt public order, even before the funeral started," as they worked to safe the procession.

"Hundreds of people gathered outside the French hospital (St. Joseph hospital) in Sheikh Jarrah and started chanting nationalist incitement," added the statement.

"In direction of the exit of the casket from the hospital, rioters began throwing stones toward the policemen from the French hospital plaza, and the policemen had been forced to act."

Thousands have been packed inside and outdoors the church as Abu Akleh's body arrived. Ladies had been heard ululating in mourning and priests sang Christian hymns in Arabic as the coffin, draped in Palestinian flags, was carried through the crowd.

The circumstances of her dying stay unclear. The Palestinian Authority on Thursday denied Israel's offer of a joint investigation, insisting on an impartial course of and vowing to try those accused of her killing to the Worldwide Felony Court docket (ICC).

Palestinian Prime Minister Mohamed Shtayyeh instructed Al Jazeera on Thursday that the outcomes of their investigation might be released quickly and can embrace the autopsy report.

Israeli military investigators confiscated the weapons of some IDF troops as a part of their inquiry, reported the Washington Put up on Thursday, citing an unnamed IDF official. The weapons have been taken in order that they can be made available for ballistics testing, the official said.

Givara Al-Buderi, a fellow Al Jazeera correspondent and a detailed personal good friend of Abu Akleh, stated she noticed the entry wound of a bullet just above the fitting eyebrow and was told by the doctor that a part of the bullet had remained lodged in Abu Akleh's skull.

Al-Buderi was referred to as by doctors to help remove Abu Akleh's clothing and change her for the funeral.

"We took off her garments and needed to put a white dress on her," Al-Buderi instructed CNN, "I tried to place my hand behind her head, however there was nothing there."

"I felt around however there was nothing, nothing left."

An earlier model of this story incorrectly stated where Shireen Abu Akleh's funeral service was attributable to be held. It was being held at a Greek Catholic Church.

CNN's Nadeen Ebrahim, Mostafa Salem and Celine Alkhaldi in Abu Dhabi contributed reporting.