Israeli army says ‘high probability’ Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh killed by one of its soldiers | World News
The Israeli military has concluded that there is a “high probability” that a journalist killed while covering a raid in the occupied West Bank was killed by one of its soldiers.
Palestinian reporter Shireen Abu Akleh was working for Al Jazeera’s Arabic channel when She was shot in Jenin City on May 11.
She died soon after.
Her employer later released a statement saying the reporter had been “assassinated in cold blood” by Israel.
Following an internal investigation, the Israeli military said on Monday: “There is a high probability that Ms. Abu Akleh was accidentally hit by IDF projectiles fired towards suspects identified as armed Palestinian gunmen. Page.”
A senior official said the military would not open a criminal investigation into what happened and therefore neither the soldier nor anyone in his chain of command would be punished.
The Palestinian also blamed Israel for the killing.
Israel initially said Ms. Abu Akleh may have been shot by gunmen, but later said a soldier may have accidentally hit her during an exchange of fire.
The results of the investigation showed that troops conducting operations in Jenin were shelled from all sides and returned fire, including towards the area where Ms. Abu Akleh was standing.
It was about 200 meters from their location, but the Israeli military said soldiers could not identify her as a journalist.
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Israel releases footage of deadly raid
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It said it was also possible that she was hit by a bullet by Palestinian gunmen.
A senior military official who briefed journalists on the results of the investigation said: “We can say with 100% certainty that no IDF soldiers intentionally shot at reporters or unrelated people. on the ground.”
Palestinian officials and Ms. Abu Akleh’s family said they believe she was intentionally killed and they have denied Israeli assertions that there are militants nearby.
Nabil Abu Rudeineh, a spokesman for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, said: “All the evidence, facts and investigations that have been conducted prove that Israel is the culprit and they killed Shireen and they must. responsible for his crimes”.
The US forensic examination of the bullet that killed her was inconclusive because the bullet was so badly damaged.
