JERUSALEM – An Al Jazeera journalist was shot dead in the West Bank city of Jenin early Wednesday during clashes between Israeli troops and Palestinians, the Palestinian Ministry of Health speak.
The circumstances surrounding the shooting death of journalist, Shireen Abu Akleh, were not immediately made clear. Al Jazeera, citing the Ministry of Health, said she was shot in the head by Israeli forces during a raid.
The Israeli military said on Twitter that it was investigating the possibility that journalists had been injured “probably by Palestinian armed firearms.”
Ms. Abu Akleh, 51 years old, a veteran journalist, wears Al Jazeera reported.
Another journalist, Ali al-Samodi, who was also wearing a protective vest, was wounded by a bullet in the back, according to the official Palestinian news agency, citing the Health Ministry. His condition was not immediately clear. He works for the Jerusalem-based Quds newspaper, according to Al Jazeera.
Following a series of Palestinian attacks in Israel, the Israeli military has been conducting regular military airstrikes on the Palestinian city of Jenin in the occupied West Bank since early April.
The Israeli military said on Twitter that its force had arrived in Jenin to arrest the suspects and shoot first.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas condemned what he called the “assassination” of Ms. Abu Akleh and said he held Israel fully responsible for her death. President Abbas said her death was part of a broader Israeli policy aimed at journalists to “blur reality and carry out crimes in silence”.
Last month, international and Palestinian journalist groups filed a formal complaint with the court accusing Israel of committing war crimes against journalists and systematically targeting journalists working in the country. The occupied West Bank and Gaza, as well as not properly investigating the killings of media workers.
Ms. Abu Akleh “joins other journalists Israel has killed as they work to reveal the crimes of the Israeli occupation,” the Palestinian Information Ministry said in a statement.
The ministry vowed to “intensify efforts to achieve justice for our journalists and ensure accountability for the Israeli occupation for its crimes against journalists and further ensure end the punishment of Israel.”
Israel’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement that it had offered to conduct a joint investigation with the Palestinians into the “grievous death” of Ms. Abu Akleh: “Journalists must be protected in the surrounding areas.” conflict and we are all responsible for the truth.”
Hiba Yazbek Reporting contributions from Nazareth.
