On Wednesday, an Al Jazeera reporter was killed in an Israeli raid in the occupied West Bank, with Palestinians and the news channel accusing Israel of murdering her and Israel’s leader claiming she was likely killed by Palestinian fire.
According to the Qatar-based outlet, Shireen Abu Akleh, a Palestinian-American, was wearing a press vest that clearly identified her as a journalist while reporting in the city of Jenin.
She was reporting on the Israeli military’s newest arrest operation in the wake of fatal Arab attacks in Israel. The death of a well-known, veteran reporter for a popular news network appeared to be adding fire to an already raging controversy.
During the Jenin raid, Israeli troops came under heavy fire, according to the Israeli military. ‘It appears probable that armed Palestinians – who were firing indiscriminately at the moment – were responsible for the terrible death of the journalist,’ Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said in a statement.
Abu Akleh was struck in the head by gunfire, according to the Palestinian health ministry. Israeli forces killed her in cold blood, according to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Al Jazeera.
Tom Nides, the US ambassador to Israel, tweeted, ‘Very sad to read of the passing of American and Palestinian journalist Shireen Abu Akleh. I support a full investigation into the circumstances behind her death and the wounding of at least one other journalist in Jenin today.’
The Israeli foreign ministry said in a statement that Israel ‘will undertake a comprehensive inquiry’ and that the Palestinian Authority should help ‘to get to the truth.’
Bennett claimed that Israel had offered to perform a joint autopsy and investigation with the Palestinian Authority, but that the PA’s spokesman had rejected the offer and demanded an international investigation instead.
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