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Palestinian American Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh killed during West Bank clashes
Israeli and Palestinian officials gave disputing accounts of her death.
www.axios.com
Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh was fatally shot while covering an Israeli military raid in the city of Jenin, in the northern occupied West Bank on Wednesday morning.
The big picture: Tom Nides, the U.S. Ambassador to Israel, confirmed Shireen Abu Akleh was a Palestinian American 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 the veteran reporter.
- The Palestinian Ministry of Health and Al Jazeera, including journalists who witnessed the incident, said she was killed by Israeli gunfire
- Israel's Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said that, according to Israeli information, "it appears likely that armed Palestinians — who were indiscriminately firing at the time — were responsible."
- But later Wednesday, the Israeli military backtracked from its initial claim that that Abu Akleh may have been killed by Palestinian gunmen. Gen. Aviv Kohavi, the IDF chief of staff, said in a statement that “at the moment, it is not possible to determine from which fire Abu Akleh was killed." Kohavi said he regrets her death and announced he appointed a special team to hold an operational investigation into the incident.
- According to the Israeli military, during the incursion Palestinian militants fired at the Israeli forces and used explosive devices.
- Palestinian officials said 51-year-old Abu Akleh and another Palestinian journalist, Ali Samudi, who works for al-Quds newspaper, were shot by Israeli soldiers.
- They were both wearing bullet proof vests with the word "Press" on them.
- Bennett shared a video of Palestinian gunmen firing and shouting that an Israeli solider was hit. But shortly after, Al Jazeera published a video of Abu Akleh's body on the ground from a different angle and what appeared to be a different location from where the video Bennett shared was taken.
- Another video published by the B'tselem human rights group that was filmed by a researcher on the ground hours later showed the locations in the two videos are different and hundreds of meters apart.
- Bennett said no Israeli soldier was injured during the clashes.
- She was a highly respected journalist who was well known in the Arab world and beyond.
- Al Jazeera said in a statement that the Israeli military "assassinated Abu Akleh in cold blood," and called on the international community to condemn her killing and hold Israel accountable.
- "We commit to take legal action against those responsible and bring them to justice," the news outlet said.
- Hussein al-Sheikh, the Palestinian minister for civilian affairs, said: " "The truth is murdered by the bullets of the occupation. A sad day in Palestine."
- Israeli officials said Foreign Minister Yair Lapid spoke to al-Sheikh Wednesday morning and proposed holding a joint investigation. Earlier, Lapid said: "Journalists must be protected in conflict zones and we all have a responsibility to get to the truth."
- Al-Sheikh on Twitter denied that Israeli officials "were heading to the Palestinian Authority to conduct an investigation into her assassination." He added that "the Palestinian Authority will transfer this file to the International Criminal Court."
- Ibrahim Milhim, a spokesperson for the Palestinian Authority, told Al Jazeera that Palestinian officials "reject and refuse the participation of any Israelis in this kind of investigation."
- “Let me ask, when does the criminal have the right to take part in the investigation against his victim?” Milhim said.
- Abbas will lead a ceremony honoring Abu Akleh at the Palestinian Presidential compound in Ramallah tomorrow.
- A funeral is expected to take place in the Beit Hanina neighborhood of East Jerusalem were Abu Akleh lived.
