Outrage over Palestinian-American reporter’s death during Israeli operation
RAMALLAH/TEL AVIV — Qatari TV channel Al Jazeera accused the Israeli military of murder on Wednesday following the death of its reporter Shireen Abu Akleh in the northern West Bank city of Jenin during an Israeli army operation.
With many facts still unclear, Israel said it would investigate the circumstances of Abu Akleh’s death, suggesting that she could have been killed by Palestinian fire.
In a strongly worded statement, Al Jazeera said: “In a blatant murder, violating international laws and norms, the Israeli occupation forces assassinated in cold blood Al Jazeera’s correspondent in Palestine, Shireen Abu Akleh.”
Abu Akleh was “conducting her journalistic duty, clearly wearing a press jacket that identifies her a journalist,” the statement continued. “Al Jazeera Media Network condemns this heinous crime, which intends to only prevent the media from conducting their duty.”
The U.S. embassy in Israel confirmed that the 51-year-old, a well known journalist in the Arab world, was also a U.S. citizen.
“We were deeply saddened to learn of the loss of American and Palestinian journalist Shireen Abu Akleh today in Jenin,” an embassy spokesperson said, calling for a “swift, thorough, and transparent investigation.”
Israel’s Foreign Minister Yair Lapid tweeted: “We have offered the Palestinians a joint pathological investigation into the sad death of journalist Shireen Abu Aqla [sic].”
A journalist from the Palestinian newspaper Al-Quds, Ali al-Samoudi, also suffered gunshot injuries in the Jenin incident, according to the Palestinian news agency WAFA.
Al-Samoudi claimed that he and other journalists had been deliberately shot at by Israeli troops.
The Israeli army tweeted that soldiers had been deployed to Jenin to arrest terror suspects, and that suspects fired at the troops and threw explosive devices.
The soldiers fired back, the Israel Defense Forces said.
“The IDF is investigating the event and looking into the possibility that the journalists were hit by the Palestinian gunmen,” the Israeli military said.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas called the incident an “execution.” The Islamist Hamas movement, which controls the Gaza Strip, condemned the killing “in the strongest terms,” calling it an “assasination.”
Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said the Palestinian accusations had no solid basis.
U.N. Middle East envoy Tor Wennesland condemned the killing and called for “an immediate and full investigation.” The U.S. and Arab League also called for an investigation.