Israeli soldiers accused of ‘assassinating’ female Al Jazeera reporter by shooting her in the face

A female Al Jazeera reporter was shot and killed during a raid on a refugee camp, with Qatar claiming Israeli security forces ‘shot her in the face’.

Well-known Palestinian television personality Shireen Abu Akleh, 51, was killed during a raid on the occupied West Bank town of Jenin early Wednesday.  

Al Jazeera put the blame for her death at the feet of Israeli security forces, who said it is ‘investigating the event and looking into the possibility that the journalists were hit by the Palestinian gunmen.’

Another Palestinian journalist, Ali Al Samoudi, working for the Jerusalem-based Al-Quds newspaper, was wounded but in stable condition, according to the Palestinian health ministry. 

The Qatar-based broadcaster blamed Israeli forces, saying she was shot ‘deliberately’ and ‘in cold blood’ by Israeli troops while wearing a press vest and helmet. 

In a statement that flashed on its channel, it called on the international community to ‘condemn and hold the Israeli occupation forces accountable for deliberately targeting and killing our colleague, Shireen Abu Akleh.’

In video footage of the incident, Abu Akleh can be seen wearing a blue flak jacket clearly marked with the word ‘PRESS.’

Well-known Palestinian television personality Shireen Abu Akleh, 51, (pictured) from Jerusalem, was killed during a raid on the occupied West Bank town of Jenin early Wednesday

Journalists escort the body of veteran Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Aqleh, who was shot dead by Israeli troops as she covered a raid on the West Bank’s Jenin refugee camp this morning

Journalists mourn over the body of veteran Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Aqleh. In video footage of the incident, Abu Akleh can be seen wearing a blue flak jacket clearly marked with the word ‘PRESS’

A medical worker covers the body of veteran Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh. Al Jazeera put the blame for her death at the feet of Israeli security forces, who said it is ‘investigating the event and looking into the possibility that the journalists were hit by the Palestinian gunmen’

The Israeli army confirmed that its forces had carried out an operation in a Jenin refugee camp on Wednesday morning, in a region known to be a stronghold of Palestinian armed groups in the northern West Bank. 

It firmly denied, however, that it had deliberately targeted journalists.

‘The (army) of course does not aim at journalists,’ a military official told AFP.

Israel’s Foreign Minister Yair Lapid said it had proposed to the Palestinian Authority a joint pathological investigation into the reporter’s death. 

‘Journalists must be protected in conflict zones and we all have a responsibility to get to the truth,’ he tweeted.

The Palestinian Authority, which administers parts of the occupied West Bank and cooperates with Israel on security matters, condemned what it said was a ‘shocking crime’ committed by Israeli forces.

Abu Akleh, 51, was born in Jerusalem. She began working for Al-Jazeera in 1997 and regularly reported on-camera from across the Palestinian territories.

Israel has carried out near-daily raids in the occupied West Bank in recent weeks amid a series of deadly attacks inside Israel, many of them carried out by Palestinians from in and around Jenin. 

The town, and particularly its refugee camp, has long been known as a militant bastion.

Israelis have long been critical of Al-Jazeera’s coverage, but authorities generally allow its journalists to operate freely. 

Another Al-Jazeera reporter, Givara Budeiri, was briefly detained last year during a protest in Jerusalem and treated for a broken hand, which her employer blamed on rough treatment by police.