She is said to have been wearing a vest clearly marked as ‘PRESS’.
Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh has been shot dead during a raid by Israeli forces in West Bank.
According to the news outlet, Akleh was shot by IDF troops carrying out raids in the city of Jenin, located within the historically contested region, before being rushed to hospital in critical condition.
Al Jazeera: "We call on the international community to condemn and hold the Israeli occupation forces accountable for deliberately targeting and killing our colleague Shireen Abu Aqla." https://t.co/0TnLfgDYaH
— Raf Sanchez (@rafsanchez) May 11, 2022
Sadly, Al Jazeera journalists and the Palestinian Health Ministry confirmed that she was declared dead at the hospital shortly after.
Colleague Nida Ibrahim claims video footage shows her being shot in the head.
Moreover, she is said to have been wearing a body armour vest clearly marked ‘PRESS’ (as is standard safety protocol for those reporting in regions of conflict) when she was caught up in the gunfire.
The Irish Foreign Ministry has condemned the killing, saying that “media freedom and the safety of journalists must be protected”.
Ireland condemns the killing of Al-Jazeera’s reporter, Shireen Abu Aqla, in Jenin.
Media freedom and the safety of journalists must be protected.
🇮🇪 expresses our deepest condolences to her family, and calls for a swift, thorough and independent investigation. https://t.co/Hz4xuIffS7
— Irish Foreign Ministry (@dfatirl) May 11, 2022
“Ireland expresses our deepest condolences to her family, and calls for a swift, thorough and independent investigation,” the Department said.
Sharing an image of her in the said vest, Husam Zomlot – ambassador and Head of Palestinian Mission to the UK – labelled the fatal shooting as an “assassination”.
Israeli occupation forces assassinated our beloved journalist Shireen Abu Akleh while covering their brutality in Jenin this morning. Shireen was most prominent Palestinian journalist and a close friend. Now we will hear the “concerns” of the UK govt & the international community pic.twitter.com/M6lKTbceHJ
— Husam Zomlot (@hzomlot) May 11, 2022
Another journalist, Ali Samoudi, who works for the Jerusalem-based Quds newspaper, was also wounded after being shot in the back during the firefight; he is said to be in a stable condition.
Al Jazeera network has called on the international community to “condemn” the act, alleging that soldiers deliberately targeted the Palestinian reporter, who was a prominent journalist and recognisable face across the Middle East, having covered the Israeli-Palestine conflict for more than 15 years.
I grew up listening to Shireen Abu Akleh’s brave voice on Palestine & became privileged to work alongside her while reporting from Jerusalem & the occupied West Bank. Shireen was shot dead by Israeli police while doing her job – reporting. This news tears into all of us. pic.twitter.com/8FVqrfKO4V
— Arwa Ibrahim (@arwaib) May 11, 2022
Meanwhile, the Israeli military says they fired back after coming under attack from heavy gunfire and explosives while operating in Jenin and are “investigating the event and looking into the possibility that the journalists were hit by the Palestinian gunmen.”
IDF Spokesperson Ran Kohav later told Kan public broadcaster, “I don’t think we killed her”, going on to add that while he urges for a joint investigation, Palestinians “might have a good reason” not to cooperate.
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