‘High probability’ soldier killed reporter

The Israeli military on Monday announced the long-awaited results of its investigation into the deadly shooting of Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh, saying there was a “high probability” an Israeli soldier had mistakenly killed her during a raid in the occupied West Bank last May.

It was the closest that Israel has come to accepting responsibility for the shooting. But in a report that seemed to raise as many questions as it sought to answer, the military revealed no new evidence to back its claim that the Palestinian-American journalist might have been killed by Palestinian gunmen during a battle with Israel troops and Palestinian gunmen. It also said that no one would be punished for the shooting.

The conclusions were unlikely to put to rest an issue that has worsened what already were badly strained relations between Israel and the Palestinians. Both Palestinian officials and Abu Akleh’s family accused the army of evading responsibility for her killing.

“Our family is not surprised by this outcome since it’s obvious to anyone that Israeli war criminals cannot investigate their own crimes. However, we remain deeply hurt, frustrated and disappointed,” her family said in a statement.

Abu Akleh, a 51-year-old PalestinianAmerican, was killed while covering an Israeli raid in the Jenin refugee camp in the northern West Bank on May 11. She had covered the West Bank for Al Jazeera for two decades and was a well-known face across the Arab world.

In a briefing with reporters, a senior Israeli military official said there was a “very high likelihood” that Abu Akleh was mistakenly shot by an Israeli soldier positioned inside an armored vehicle who thought he was aiming at a militant.

“He misidentified her,” the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity under military briefing guidelines. “His reports in real time… absolutely point to a misidentification.”

Jenin is known as a bastion of Palestinian militants, and Israel has carried out raids there almost nightly since a string of deadly attacks inside Israel earlier this year, some of which were carried out by assailants from the area.

Repeating previous Israeli claims, the military official said the soldiers had been under continuous fire for almost an hour from multiple directions before Abu Akleh was shot. The army released several videos showing Palestinian militants firing automatic weapons and soldiers coming under fire that day.

But the military provided no evidence to support its claim that a fierce gunbattle was under way at the time that Abu Akleh was shot. Amateur videos as well as witness accounts have shown no evidence of militants in the vicinity and the area appeared to be quiet for several minutes before she was shot.

It also was unclear how Abu Akleh, who was wearing a helmet and vest marked “press” at the time, could be mistaken for a militant. The official only said that the soldier’s vision from inside the vehicle was “very limited,” causing Abu Akleh to be misidentified in a split-second decision.