An Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh died of gunshot wounds in the occupied West Bank, the Palestinian health ministry told Al Jazeera. She was killed while covering Israeli raids in the city of Jenin.
Another Palestinian journalist working for the Jerusalem-based Al-Quds newspaper was wounded but in stable condition. Abu Akleh was wearing a blue flak jacket marked with the word PRESS. The shooting took place when the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) were operating in the Jenin refuge camp.
Al Jazeera’s Nida Ibrahim said, “What we know for now is that the Palestinian Health Ministry has announced her death. Shireen Abu Akleh, who has been covering the events unfolding in Jenin, specifically an Israeli raid on a city to the north of the occupied West Bank, when she was hit by a bullet to the head.”
The military is investigating and looking into the possibility that the journalists were shot at by Palestinian gunmen. 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.
According to a Haaretz report, Abu Akleh was born in Jerusalem and has been working with Al Jazeera since 1997. She has been covering every major event in the Palestinian area and Israeli politics. As per an IDF spokesperson, armed suspects opened fire at the forces and hurled explosives at them during a raid of the refugee camp.
-- With PTI inputs
