Al Jazeera journalist Shirin Abu Akle was fatally shot while covering an Israeli military attack in the city of Jenin, in the north-occupied West Bank, on Wednesday morning.
What to watch: Tom Nides, the US ambassador to Israel, confirmed that Shirin Abu Akle was a Palestinian US citizen and called for a “thorough investigation into the circumstances of her death” as Palestinian and Israeli officials gave conflicting accounts of what happened to a reporter. veteran.
- The Palestinian Ministry of Health said she was killed in Israeli shelling, as was Al Jazeera.
- Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said that according to Israeli information, “it seems likely that armed Palestinians – who fired indiscriminately at the time – are responsible.”
News movement: The Israeli military has entered Jenin in an operation to arrest Palestinians suspected of planning attacks on Israelis, the Israeli military said.
- According to the Israeli military, Palestinian militants fired on Israeli forces and used explosive devices during the invasion.
- Palestinian Authority officials say Abu Akle, 51, and another Palestinian journalist, Ali Samudi, who works for al-Quds newspaper, were caught in crossfire and shot dead by Israeli soldiers.
- They were both wearing bulletproof vests.
- Bennett said no Israeli soldiers were injured in the clashes
Background: Abu Aqlé has worked for the Arab channel of Al Jazeera since 1997, covering the West Bank.
- She was a highly respected journalist who was a well-known journalist in the Arab world and beyond.
- Al Jazeera said in a statement that the Israeli military had “killed Abu Akleh in cold blood” and called on the international community to condemn her killing and hold Israel accountable.
- “We are committed to taking legal action against those responsible and bringing them to justice,” the paper said.
What they say: Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has joined the Islamist party Raam, an Arab-Israeli offshoot of the Muslim Brotherhood, to condemn the assassination of Abu Akle. He said Israel was responsible “for a crime against a Palestinian journalist who was trying to tell the truth”.
- Raam’s party has called for an international investigation into her death, as has Hamas, which has described the killing as “another Israeli crime”.
- Hussein al-Sheikh, the Palestinian Minister for Civil Affairs, said: “The truth has been killed by the bullets of the occupation. A sad day in Palestine. “
Bennett, meanwhile, said the Israeli government had called on Palestinian officials to conduct a joint pathological analysis and investigation into Abu Akle’s death, but so far they have declined the offer.
- Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid said in a statement that he also called for a joint investigation: “Journalists must be protected in conflict zones and we all have a responsibility to get to the truth.”
- Israeli army spokesman General Ran Kohaw told army radio that Palestinian officials had taken Abu Akle’s body and refused to conduct a joint pathological investigation into her death.
- Israeli military officials told a news briefing earlier that Abu Akle’s death was a “very tragic incident” and said she was probably killed by indiscriminate [gun]fire from Palestinian extremists. ”
- “We will take this incident seriously,” said an Israeli military official.
It is worth noting: Reports of her death came shortly before a planned press conference by Mansour Abbas, Raam’s party leader, who was expected to announce that his party would rejoin the coalition.
- Shortly before the press conference was held, Abbas announced that it had been canceled.
Editor’s note: This article has been updated with new details everywhere.
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