Palestinian ministry, witnesses say Israeli forces fatally shot journalist
JERUSALEM — A journalist for Al-Jazeera was fatally shot in the West Bank city of Jenin early Wednesday, the news network and the Palestinian Health Ministry said, blaming Israeli forces for her death.
The circumstances surrounding the shooting of the journalist, Shireen Abu Akleh, a Palestinian American, were not immediately clear, but she was shot as clashes between Israeli military and Palestinian gunmen took place in the city.
Al-Jazeera, citing the Health Ministry, said the journalist had been shot in the head by Israeli forces during a raid. A second journalist was hospitalized after being hit in the back, the ministry said.
“Al-Jazeera holds the Israeli government and the occupation forces responsible for the killing of Shireen,” the news network said in a statement. “It also calls on the international community to condemn and hold the Israeli occupation forces accountable.”
The Israeli military’s chief of staff, Aviv Kochavi, said it was not clear who had shot the journalist. In a separate statement, the military said it was investigating the possibility “the journalists were hit by the Palestinian gunmen.”
In an evening briefing, Israel’s minister of defense, Benny Gantz, emphasized the uncertainty. “It can be Palestinians who shot her,” he said. “Tragically, it may be on our side. We are investigating it.”
Abu Akleh, 51, a veteran journalist, was wearing a protective vest that identified her as a member of the news media, video from the moments around her death showed.
The video, broadcast by Al-Jazeera, does not show Abu Akleh being shot, but gunfire can be heard in the first few seconds, followed by a man yelling, “Injured! Shireen, Shireen, oh man, Shireen! Ambulance!”
As he continues to yell for an ambulance, the camera moves toward Abu Akleh, who is slumped face down.
Next to her in the video, another journalist, identified by the network as Shatha Hanaysha and also wearing a vest marked “Press” and a helmet, crouches down and tries to reach out to Abu Akleh. But she was forced back by gunfire.
Hanaysha told Al-Jazeera there had not been any confrontations between Palestinian fighters and the Israeli army when the shots were fired toward the journalists, adding she believed they had been targeted.
Another Al-Jazeera journalist, Ali Samoudi, who was also wearing a protective vest, was shot in the back, according to the official Palestinian news agency, which cited the Health Ministry.
Al-Jazeera reported he was in stable condition.
In a phone interview from his hospital bed, Samoudi said: “There were no armed Palestinians or resistance or even civilians in the area. We walked toward the soldiers for about 20 meters. Then all of a sudden the first bullet was fired.”