Al Jazeera journalist killed in Israeli gunfire

Al Jazeera journalist killed in Israeli gunfire

 

Israeli forces have shot dead an Al Jazeera journalist, Shireen Abu Akleh, in the occupied West Bank, according to the Palestinian health ministry, Al Jazeera reported.

Ms Abu Akleh, a longtime TV correspondent for Al Jazeera Arabic, was killed on Wednesday while covering Israeli army raids in the city of Jenin in the northern occupied West Bank.

She was rushed to a hospital in Jenin in critical condition, where she was declared dead shortly after, at 7:15 a.m. (4:15 GMT), according to the ministry and Al Jazeera journalists.

Ms Abu Akleh was wearing a press vest and was standing with other journalists when she was killed.

The head of the medicine department at al-Najah University in Nablus confirmed that she was shot in the head. He said that her body was transferred for an autopsy based on an order from the public prosecution.

Another Al Jazeera journalist, Ali al-Samoudi, was also wounded by a bullet in the back at the scene. He is now in stable condition.

Mr Al-Samoudi and other journalists at the scene said there were no Palestinian fighters present when the journalists were shot, directly disputing an Israeli statement referencing the possibility that it was Palestinian fire.

“We were going to film the Israeli army operation and suddenly they shot us without asking us to leave or stop filming,” Al Jazeera quoted Mr Al-Samoudi saying.

“The first bullet hit me and the second bullet hit Shireen … there was no Palestinian military resistance at all at the scene.”

Shatha Hanaysha, a local journalist who was standing next to Ms Abu Akleh when she was shot, also told Al Jazeera that there had been no confrontations between Palestinian fighters and the Israeli army. She said the group of journalists had been directly targeted.

“We were four journalists, we were all wearing vests, all wearing helmets,” Ms Hanaysha said. “The Israeli occupation army did not stop firing even after she collapsed. I couldn’t even extend my arm to pull her because of the shots being fired. The army was adamant on shooting to kill.”

The details of Ms Abu Akleh’s killing are still emerging but videos of the incident show that she was shot in the head, said Al Jazeera’s Nida Ibrahim.

“What we know for now is that the Palestinian health ministry has announced her death. Shireen Abu Akleh was covering the events unfolding in Jenin, specifically, an Israeli raid on the city, which is north of the occupied West Bank, when she was hit by a bullet to the head,” Ms Ibrahim said, speaking from the Palestinian city of Ramallah.

In her last email to the network, Ms Abu Akleh sent a message to Al Jazeera’s Ramallah bureau at 6:13 a.m. in which she wrote: “Occupation forces storm Jenin and besiege a house in the Jabriyat neighbourhood. On the way there – I will bring you news as soon as the picture becomes clear.”

Separately on Wednesday in the occupied West Bank, the Palestinian health ministry said an 18-year-old Palestinian, Thaer Mislet-Yazouri, was shot by Israeli forces in the town of el-Bireh, near the illegal settlement of Psagot.

Ms Abu Akleh, who was a dual Palestinian-American national, was one of Al Jazeera’s first field correspondents, joining the network in 1997.

Al Jazeera’s offices in the Gaza Strip, in a building that also housed the Associated Press, were bombed by Israeli forces during an offensive a year ago, and Palestinian and international journalists say they have been regularly targeted by Israeli forces in the occupied West Bank and occupied East Jerusalem.

Many in Palestine and abroad took to social media to express their shock and grief.

Those who knew her described her as brave, kind and a voice for the Palestinians.

Giles Trendle, Al Jazeera’s managing director, said the network was “shocked and saddened” by the death of Shireen Abu Akleh.

“We have had a history throughout the world but particularly in this region, where we have had tragedies,” he said, calling for a transparent investigation of the killing of Ms Abu Akleh.

“As journalists, we carry on. Our mission is to carry on. We will not be silenced,” said Mr Trendle. “Our mission is always to carry on to inform the world what is happening. And that is more important than ever.”