JERUSALEM: Israel confirmed on Monday that the US Justice Department has opened an investigation into the shooting death of Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh.

Israel condemned the investigation as a "serious mistake" and vowed not to cooperate.
According to Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz, who posted the statement on Twitter, Israel has made it clear to the US that "we will not cooperate with any external investigation."

He continued, "We will not allow interference in Israel's internal affairs." Abu Aqley was an American citizen and a Palestinian who spent years reporting on Israeli operations in the Palestinian territories.

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A Justice Department spokeswoman did not immediately respond to requests for comment regarding Gantz's claim. The exact start date and scope of the investigation were not immediately known.

However, the US investigation into Israel's behavior was a rare move that had the potential to undermine the two countries' close ties.

The 51-year-old journalist wore a helmet and a protective vest emblazoned with the word "press" in the occupied West Bank last May. Palestinian officials, Abu Akleh's family, and Al Jazeera accused Israel of deliberately targeting and killing the woman.

She was well-known in the Arab world and covered the West Bank for Al Jazeera for two decades. The news of his death spread throughout the area.

Inquiries for comment from both the Abu Akleh family and the Palestinian Foreign Ministry were not immediately answered late on Monday.

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Former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is expected to take over as the nation's leader in the coming weeks, and his spokesman both declined to comment. Outgoing Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid also declined to comment.

Despite strongly disputed claims that a soldier intentionally targeted Abu Aqleh, Israel has acknowledged that he was likely killed by Israeli fire.

Investigations into non-natural deaths or injuries of US citizens abroad, especially if they are government employees, are often conducted by the FBI or other US investigators.

Such isolated investigations are the exception rather than the rule, and they are highly unusual – if not unheard of – to occur in a US ally like Israel, which is regarded in Washington as having a reliable and independent judicial system.

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Critics have long charged that the military does a poor job of looking into wrongdoing by its soldiers and rarely holds forces accountable. Israeli authorities conducted their own investigation into the death and decided not to open a criminal case.