Shireen Abu Akleh, a Jerusalem-based journalist for Al Jazeera, was hit in the head by a bullet while she was covering a raid by Israeli forces in the city of Jenin in West Bank in Palestine. Israeli and Palestinian authorities are blaming each other for the death of the journalist.
The Israeli military issued a statement where they accused Palestinian gunmen of firing at her.
The Palestinian health ministry and other officials accused the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) of killing her while conducting raids in the city.
Another reporter, Ali Samodi, sustained a gunshot wound to the back but is currently stable. Shireen Abu Akleh died due to a headshot. Ali Samodi while speaking to Israeli news agency Haaretz said that both were wearing their press vests, when they were shot at.
#UPDATE Al Jazeera says reporter Shireen Abu Aqleh killed ‘in cold blood’ by Israel forces.”In a blatant murder, violating international laws and norms, the Israeli occupation forces assassinated in cold blood Al Jazeera’s correspondent in Palestine” pic.twitter.com/V7wUBzMyDq
— AFP News Agency (@AFP) May 11, 2022
Pictures shared by news agency Reuters showed several journalists and even common Palestinians mourning beside the coffin inside which her body was kept.
Walid Al-Omari, Al Jazeera’s Palestine bureau chief was pictured by news agency Reuters, distraught and only holding the flak jacket that Al Jazeera reporter Shireen Abu Akleh was wearing.
This morning, in Jenin, terrorists heard saying: “They’ve hit one, they’ve hit a soldier, he’s laying on the ground”But no IDF soldier was injured in Jenin
Palestinian terrorists, firing indiscriminately, are likely to have hit Al-Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Aqla pic.twitter.com/nXNbVJrnkC
— Israel Foreign Ministry (@IsraelMFA) May 11, 2022
Ran Kochav, the spokesperson for the Israeli military, has said that the Israeli investigators are ready to cooperate with their Palestinian counterparts to investigate who killed Shireen.
Kochav highlighted that in the video footage of the incident Palestinian gunmen were heard cheering the death of an IDF personnel but he pointed out that no IDF personnel were killed or injured during the raid in Jenin.
“We proposed to the Palestinians to open a swift joint probe. If we indeed killed her, we’ll take responsibility, but it doesn’t seem to be the case,” Kochav was quoted as saying by news agency Kan.
News agency Al-Jazeera claimed that their reporter was killed in ‘cold blood’ by the Israelis. Palestine president Mahmoud Abbas also accused Israel of killing her in cold blood.
The news agency also claimed that their reporter was killed in ‘cold blood’ by the Israelis.
Palestine president Mahmoud Abbas also accused Israel of killing her in cold blood. Shireen has been working with Al Jazeera since 1997 and is a prominent face of the network’s Arabic language channel. She is known for her extensive coverage of events in Israel and Palestine including the second Intifada.
Raids In Jenin
Raids in the Palestinian city of Jenin were going on since last month as Israel believes that the city and its refugee camps are militant bastions. The raids became common after Israel also faced attacks from few Palestinian miscreants who Israel believe were hiding in Jenin.
(with inputs from Haaretz)
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