A journalist has been shot and killed and another injured while covering an Israeli raid in the occupied West Bank.
Palestinian reporter Shireen Abu Akleh, who was working for Al Jazeera’s Arabic language channel, was shot in the city of Jenin early on Wednesday and died soon afterward.
Another Palestinian journalist, Ali Al-Samudi, was hospitalised in a stable condition after being shot in the back.
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Shireen Abu Akleh was well-known for her reporting for Al Jazeera. Pic: Al Jazeera/AP
In footage of the incident, 51-year-old Ms Abu Akleh, who is also a US citizen, can be seen wearing a blue flak jacket clearly marked with the word ‘PRESS’.
While the Palestinian health ministry said the reporters were hit by Israeli fire, the Israeli military said it is “investigating” the event and is looking into the possibility the journalists were hit by “the Palestinian gunmen”.
In a statement flashed on its channel, Al Jazeera blamed Israel and called on the international community to “condemn and hold the Israeli occupation forces accountable for deliberately targeting and killing our colleague, Shireen Abu Akleh”.
The Israel army initially raised the possibility that Ms Abu Akleh might have been killed by stray Palestinian fire, saying militants were also present in the area.
And Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said that based on the information they had already gathered “there is a considerable chance that armed Palestinians, who fired wildly, were the ones who brought about the journalist’s unfortunate death”.
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Israeli PM reacts to journalist’s death
However, army chief Lt Gen Aviv Kochavi later stepped back from that assertion, saying that “at this stage, we cannot determine by whose fire she was harmed and we regret her death”.
The Israeli military said its forces came under attack with heavy gunfire and explosives while operating in the city, and that they fired back.
Israel’s foreign minister Yair Lapid said it proposed a joint pathological investigation into the reporter’s death to the Palestinian Authority, which had refused the offer.
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Shireen Abu Akleh was covering Israeli raids on the city of Jenin in the occupied West Bank. Pic: Al Jazeera
Mr Samudi, who was working as Ms Abu Akleh’s producer, said they were among a group of seven reporters who went to cover the raid early on Wednesday.
He said the first shot missed them, the second hit him and a third killed his colleague, adding that there were no militants or other civilians in the area – only the reporters and the army.
Mr Samudi said the military’s suggestion they were shot by militants is a “complete lie”.
Shatha Hanaysha, a reporter with a Palestinian news website, similarly said there were no clashes or shooting in the immediate area.
She said when the shots rang out she and Ms Abu Akleh ran towards a tree to take shelter.
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The injured journalist is hugged by one of the colleagues of Shireen Abu Akleh. Pic: AP
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Palestinians carrying the body of Shireen Abu Akleh
“I reached the tree before Shireen. She fell on the ground,” Ms Hanaysheh said.
“The soldiers did not stop shooting even after she fell. Every time I extended my hand to pull Shireen, the soldiers fired at us.”
The US ambassador to Israel, Tom Nides, said on Twitter: “I encourage a thorough investigation into the circumstances of her death and the injury of at least one other journalist today in Jenin.”
Al Jazeera’s Nida Ibrahim told the broadcaster Ms Abu Akleh, who was born in Jerusalem, was a “very well-respected journalist” who had been working with the channel since 2000.
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Journalists surround the body of Shireen Abu Akleh. Pic: AP
The British Consulate General in Jerusalem said it is “shocked” at the death of Ms Abu Akleh, adding that “media freedom and safety of journalists are essential and must be respected”.
Israel has carried out near-daily raids in the 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 city, and particularly its refugee camp, has long been known as a militant bastion.
Israel captured the West Bank in 1967, and the Palestinians want the territory to form the main part of their future state.
Nearly three million Palestinians live in the territory under Israeli military rule.
Israel has built more than 130 settlements across the West Bank that are home to nearly 500,000 Jewish settlers, who have full Israeli citizenship.
Israelis have long been critical of Al Jazeera’s coverage, but authorities generally allow its journalists to operate freely.
