Prime Minister Naftali Bennett speaks with Mansour Abbas, leader of the Islamist party Raam at the Knesset in Jerusalem, June 13, 2021. Photo: EMMANUEL DUNAND / AFP

i24 News – On Wednesday, the leader of the Ra’am party Mansour Abbas announced that it will end the freeze of its membership and return to Prime Minister Naftali Bennett’s coalition, and it will vote against the bill to dissolve the sitting parliament.

“We reached understandings for the betterment of Arab society and Israelis in general,” Abbas said. “We decided to come back and give an opportunity for the coalition agreements to be implemented.”

Earlier on Wednesday, the Islamist party stated that it would cancel its press conference on its decision on the bill to dissolve the Knesset after the death of Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Aqleh.

In a statement, Ra’am said it condemned the killing of the journalist and demanded the immediate establishment of an international commission of inquiry to look into the circumstances of her death.

In April, the Islamist party decided to freeze its membership in the current governing coalition over the clashes in Jerusalem during Ramadan.

On Wednesday, veteran journalist Shireen Abu Aqleh was killed on Wednesday morning while covering an Israeli counter-terrorism operation in the West Bank city of Jenin.

Al Jazeera and the Palestinian Ministry of Health confirmed the death of Abu Aqleh, 51, a Palestinian who covered the region for more than 20 years.

The Twitter account of Al Jazeera blamed Israel for her death: “Our colleague was killed by the Israeli army while covering the attack on the Jenin refugee camp.”

However, in a statement, the Israeli army indicated the possibility that she was hit by Palestinian gunfire and said that the incident is being investigated.