The family of a British woman who died in Israel have released images of her battered face in an attempt to get Israeli authorities to re-open the investigation into her death.

Julie Pearson, 38, died in Eilat in November from what Israeli police have said were natural causes.

However, her aunt believes her death followed an attack by her Palestinian boyfriend and has accused police of not dealing with the case properly.

Deborah Pearson issued the images taken by a Scottish undertaker in December, before Julie was cremated. Deborah had originally fought to keep the images out of the press but decided to release them “because we wanted everyone to see why we’re saying it wasn’t natural causes. It wasn’t an easy decision.”

The shocking photos show bruises and injuries on Julie’s forehead, eyes, cheek, nose and mouth.

Israeli pathologists ruled last month that Julie died as the result of a rare internal bleeding condition in her stomach. But the Pearson family have rejected their findings.

Deborah said: “Everyone who has seen the photos says, ‘how can they say it was natural causes?’. And that’s just the pictures of her face they’re seeing — they still haven’t seen the marks on her body.”

The Pearsons are now waiting for the full autopsy report from the Israeli Forensic Institute, which they intend to give to a pathologist in the UK to verify.

They are also waiting for the Israeli police to close their report on the case, as only then can they launch an appeal.
Deborah said that she has made a complaint about the police officer in charge on the night that Julie died.

The family claim the officer failed to inform police headquarters of Julie’s death, leaving the Pearsons to find out she had died from her friends rather than through official channels.