Palestinians to hand bullet that killed journalist to U.S. for examination

RAMALLAH, West Bank (Reuters) -The Palestinian Authority will hand the bullet that killed prominent Palestinian-American Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh to U.S. authorities for forensic examination, a Palestinian official said on Saturday.

Abu Akleh was killed on May 11 while was covering an Israeli military raid in the Palestinian city of Jenin in the occupied West Bank.

After an investigation, the Palestinian Authority said she had been shot by an Israeli soldier in a "deliberate murder".

Israel has denied the accusation and says it is continuing its own investigation. But it says it cannot determine whether she was shot accidentally by an Israeli soldier or by a Palestinian militant during an exchange of fire without examining the bullet to see if it matches an Israeli military gun.

"We agreed to transfer the bullet to the Americans for examination," Akram al-Khatib, General Prosecutor for the Palestinian Authority, told Reuters without providing further details.

(Reporting by Ali Sawafta; Writing by Maayan Lubell; Editing by Kevin Liffey)