Al Jazeera reporter shot dead in Israeli raid
Journalist killed by soldiers who had gone into refugee camp to arrest terrorists, it is claimed
A VETERAN Al Jazeera journalist was shot dead while covering an Israeli army raid on Jenin refugee camp in the occupied West Bank early yesterday.
The circumstances surrounding the death of Shireen Abu Aqleh, a household name in the Arab world, remained unclear last night amid competing claims over who fired the gun.
Video footage showed the 51-year-old Palestinian-american slumped on the floor in a flak jacket marked “Press” and a helmet. Another showed her being hauled into a car with a head injury.
She was rushed to hospital but declared dead soon after, the Palestinian health ministry said. A post mortem confirmed that she was killed by a shot to the head. The bullet is being sent to a crime lab to determine what kind of gun it came from.
Al Jazeera and the Palestinian health ministry said Abu Aqleh was killed deliberately by the Israel Defence
‘We were going to film the army raid and suddenly they shot us without asking us to leave or stop filming’
Forces. A statement from the Qatarbased network said it was a “blatant murder” and that she was “assassinated in cold blood”.
But Naftali Bennett, the Israeli prime minister, said she was “likely” shot by Palestinians “indiscriminately firing” during a gun battle in the restive area.
The defence forces initially briefed the same but later rowed back to say it was unclear what happened. “At this stage, we cannot determine by whose fire she was harmed and we regret her death,” said Lt Gen Aviv Kochavi.
The force confirmed it had raided the camp, a stronghold of Palestinian armed groups in the northern West Bank home to 14,000 people. It has said it does not aim at journalists and has called for a joint investigation.
Jenin camp has long been a flashpoint between Israel and the occupied West Bank. During the 2002 Palestinian Intifada, a 10-day battle resulted in the deaths of 52 Palestinians and 23 Israeli soldiers.
It has again been at the centre of tensions following terror attacks against Israeli civilians. A man from a village nearby shot five in Tel Aviv in March. Last week, two men from Jenin killed three in an axe and knife attack in the ultraorthodox town of Elad.
Israel Defence Forces have conducted raids to arrest suspects, but they have met fierce resistance.
Earlier this week, it was reported that the Israeli government was considering a full-blown military operation in Jenin or the Gaza Strip. People witnessed Abu Aqleh being killed, including fellow Al Jazeera journalist Ali al-samoudi.
“We were going to film the Israeli army raid, and suddenly they shot us without asking us to leave or stop filming,” he said. “The first bullet hit me and the second hit Shireen. There was no Palestinian military resistance at all,” he added from a hospital in Jenin where he was being treated for his injuries. “They killed her in cold blood.”
Mujahed Al-sa’di, another journalist, said: “We walked a few metres next to a factory wall and the shooting started. It was directed at us. Shireen was on the ground and Shatha [another journalist] was standing close to her amid the fire.”
“The occupation targeted her while wearing the helmet, she was shot right underneath the ear,” he said.
The death of Abu Aqleh, a wellknown television correspondent who has covered Palestinian and Israeli for three decades, was met with an outpouring of grief across the Middle East.