
A veteran Palestinian journalist was shot dead by Israeli soldiers during a raid in the West Bank city of Jenin on Wednesday morning, the Palestinian Authority Health Ministry said.
Al-Jazeera correspondent Shirin Abu Aqleh, 51, was shot in the head while covering the Israeli army operation in the city, which has seen high tensions in recent days. In footage from the scene, Abu Aqleh can be seen wearing a press vest and helmet.
Palestinian health officials reported that journalist Ali Samudi — who works for the Al-Quds newspaper — was also shot in the back, although his condition was deemed to be stable.
According to the Israeli military, troops entered Jenin’s flashpoint refugee camp and the nearby town of Burqin to arrest terror suspects.
“During the operation in Jenin refugee camp, suspects fired an enormous amount of gunfire at troops and hurled explosive devices. [Israeli] forces fired back. Hits were identified,” the Israeli army said in a statement.
The army said it was “looking into the possibility that journalists were injured, potentially by Palestinian gunfire.”
A Palestinian health official dismissed that possibility in a phone call.
“The assessment is that she was killed by Israeli gunfire, and witnesses at the scene attest to this as well,” the official said.
Abu Aqleh was a widely known and respected Palestinian journalist. A longtime veteran of the pan-Arab network, Abu Aqleh’s post made her a familiar face for millions of viewers.
- “Shireen Abu Aqleh—a wonderful human being, a remarkable journalist, a dear longtime friend—was shot & murdered by the Israeli occupation army. The heart breaks. Palestine grieves. Rest in peace & power & love,” Hanan Ashrawi, a former senior Palestinian politician, wrote on Twitter.
Israeli occupation forces assassinated our beloved journalist Shireen Abu Akleh while covering their brutality in Jenin this morning. Shireen was most prominent Palestinian journalist and a close friend. Now we will hear the “concerns” of the UK govt & the international community pic.twitter.com/M6lKTbceHJ
— Husam Zomlot (@hzomlot) May 11, 2022
Colleagues and friends mourned Abu Aqleh as a courageous journalist who had covered Israel and the Palestinians for decades.
“Never did I imagine I would be reading headlines about Shireen dying. She covered both Intifadas; to me, she was invincible, everlasting, a beautiful person that will outlast all of us,” Palestinian journalist Dalia Hatuqa tweeted.
The Hamas terror group condemned Abu Aqleh’s death as a “deliberate assassination.”
Tensions have rocked Jenin in recent weeks. Palestinian terrorists from the city and surrounding villages crossed the fence into Israel to commit terror attacks, part of a bloody terror wave that has left 19 dead since late March.
Israeli forces have responded by cracking down in the Jenin area, stepping up raids and arrests in an attempt to restore order. The security operations often led to armed clashes with local Palestinians.
According to the PA Health Ministry, 30 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli troops since late March. Some committed violent terror attacks, while others participated in clashes with soldiers. Still others — such as a near-blind Palestinian woman near Bethlehem — appeared to have been unarmed bystanders.
Source: TOI
Header: Shirin Abu Aqilah, a Palestinian journalist who worked for Al-Jazeera, in an interview with the Arabic MBC channel (Screenshot: YouTube)
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