Veteran Al-Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh was shot dead by Israeli occupation forces Wednesday as she covered a raid on Jenin refugee camp in the occupied West Bank, the network said.
Al-Jazeera said Abu Akleh, 51, a prominent figure in the channel’s Arabic news service was shot “deliberately” and “in cold blood,” by Israeli forces.
Mourners carry the body of veteran Al-Jazeera Palestinian journalist Shireen Abu Akleh, who was shot dead by Israeli forces as she covered a raid on the West Bank’s Jenin refugee camp, according to the network, on May 11, 2022. (Photo: AFP)
An AFP photographer at the scene said Abu Akleh was wearing a press flak jacket when she was shot.
‘Intentional’
Al-Jazeera called on the international community to hold Israeli forces accountable for their “intentional targeting and killing” of Abu Akleh.
“In a blatant murder, violating international laws and norms, the Israeli occupation forces assassinated in cold blood Al-Jazeera’s correspondent in Palestine,” it said.
Another Al-Jazeera journalist, producer Ali Al-Samudi, was also wounded during the violence, the broadcaster added.
Israeli occupation forces confirmed it had conducted an operation early Wednesday in Jenin refugee camp, a stronghold of Palestinian armed groups in the northern West Bank.
It denied, however, that it had deliberately targeted journalists.
“There is an ongoing inquiry into this event. We offered and want to conduct a joint investigation with the Palestinians,” Israeli forces said in a statement.
Israel said there was an exchange of fire between suspects and security forces and that it was “investigating the event and looking into the possibility that journalists were hit by the Palestinian gunmen.”
However, a Palestinian human rights lawyer said Israeli authorities do not take investigations seriously, and there is little chance of holding Israel accountable for the killing of Shireen Abu Akleh, according to Al-Jazeera News.
“Every time that there are complaints about specific incidents about alleged war crimes, crimes against humanities, or violations against international law happening in the occupied territory, the Israeli army doesn’t take the investigation seriously,” Mounir Nesseba, who is also a professor of international law at al-Quds University, said to Al-Jazeera.
‘State sponsored Israeli terrorism’
Qatar’s assistant foreign minister Lolwah Al-Khater said Wednesday that Abu Akleh was shot “in the face” while wearing a press vest and helmet. The minister also condemned “state sponsored Israeli terrorism” by stating on Twitter that “this state sponsored Israeli terrorism must STOP, unconditional support to Israel must end”.
In recent weeks, occupation forces have stepped up operations in Jenin. Several of the assailants blamed for deadly attacks on Israelis in recent weeks were from the area.
The Palestinian Authority called Abu Akleh’s killing an “execution,” and part of an Israeli effort to obscure the “truth” about its occupation of the West Bank.
An official of Islamist group Hamas, which controls Gaza, called the incident “a premeditated murder”.
Media and press institutions should move to expel Israel and consider it an enemy of the freedom of the press,” said Ghazi Hamad of Hamas’s political bureau.