Palestinian-American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh, one of the best known on the pan-Arab Al-Jazeera channel, was shot dead Wednesday morning while covering an Israeli army operation in a tense area of the occupied West Bank.
The Palestinian Ministry of Health and the Al-Jazeera channel announced the death of the star journalist by firing on the Israeli army in these clashes in Jenin, stronghold of Palestinian armed factions north of the occupied West Bank.
An AFP photographer on the spot reported the Israeli army shooting and saw the body of the reporter wearing a bulletproof vest with writing on it. hurry up. He said he saw no Palestinian militiamen near the scene where the journalist was killed.
Another journalist, Ali Al-Samoudi, who was wounded in these clashes, accused the Israeli army of firing on journalists.
” We were on our way to cover up the army operation when they shot us […] A bullet hit me. The second bullet hit Shireen. “
The Israeli army said they have conducted operations in the Palestinian camp of Jenin and other areas of the West Bank in the past few hours to to arrest people suspected of terrorism.
During these counter-terrorism activities in the Palestinian camp of Jenin, dozens of Palestinian gunmen fired and threw explosive objects at Israeli forces, threatening their lives. The soldiers responded. affected peoplesaid the army of Israel.
The army is investigating the events and is considering the possibility that the journalists were hit by Palestinian gunmenadded by the military.
” According to the information we have gathered, it is likely that the armed Palestinians, who were firing indiscriminately at this time, were responsible for the untimely death of the journalist. “
Killed in cold blood of the Israeli army, according to Al-Jazeera
Palestinian, Christian, in her fifties and also an American national, Shireen Abu Akleh worked The Voice of Palestine and on Radio Monte-Carlo, before joining the Al-Jazeera channel, where he became known throughout the Middle East for his reporting on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
In the middle of the day, Palestinians laid flowers on the side of the road as the car carrying his remains passed north of the occupied West Bank, an AFP journalist said.
In a statement, the Al-Jazeera channel said Shireen Abu Akleh had been killed in cold blood of the forces of Israel.
Al-Jazeera condemned this heinous crime, which aimed to prevent the media from their worksaid the Qatari channel, calling on the international community to hold Israeli occupation forces responsible for deliberately targeting and killing Shireenwho was shot in the face according to Qatari authorities.
Israel offered the Palestinians a joint investigation on the death of the journalist, his Minister of Foreign Affairs, Yaïr Lapid, was declared.
The Palestinian government has called for a international survey on the journalist’s death, his spokesman, Ibrahim Melhem, told the AFP as President Mahmoud Abbas accused Israeli government to be fully responsible of the death of Shireen Abu Akleh.
US Ambassador to Israel Tom Nides called for a scrutiny on the death of the journalist American-Palestinianalso condemned by the UN envoy to the Middle East Tor Wennesland.
Shireen Abu Akleh’s death came nearly a year after the destruction of the Jalaa tower, where the Qatari channel offices are located in the Gaza Strip, during an Israeli airstrike amid the war between the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas and the state of the Jews.
This 11-day war left 260 dead on the Palestinian side, including many fighters and children, and 14 deaths in Israel, including a soldier and two minors.
A year after the Gaza war, tensions remain between the Jewish state and Hamas. On Wednesday, a senior Hamas figure, Ghazi Hamad, accused Israeli forces of having intentionally killed Al-Jazeera journalist, denied by the army.
Since March 22, Israel has been the target of a series of attacks that have killed at least 18 people. Two of his attacks were carried out by Israeli Arabs, and four of them by Palestinians, including three youths from Jenin, where the Israeli army has intensified operations in recent weeks.
As a result of these attacks against Israelis, 31 Palestinians including assailants and an 18-year-old youth on Wednesday near Ramallah were killed in Israeli army incidents.
Source: Radio-Canada
