The Israeli leadership bears full responsibility for the death of Qatari TV channel Al Jazeera reporter Shireen Abu Akleh. This was stated in a statement issued Wednesday by the office of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
"The Israeli government bears full responsibility for this heinous crime, which was a continuation of the occupation authorities' daily policy against our people, their lands and sanctuaries, and aimed at persecuting journalists in order to conceal the truth," it said.
The Palestinian Ministry of Health earlier reported that Shireen was fatally shot in the head while covering an army raid in a refugee camp in the Jenin area of the West Bank, during which armed clashes between soldiers and Palestinians broke out. Also wounded was Al Jazeera producer Ali Al Samoudi, whose condition is assessed as stable. As the TV station wrote on its Twitter page, both were wearing vests marked "press" when they came under fire.
Al Jazeera called what happened a "cold-blooded murder" that violated "all international laws and generally accepted norms." In a special report on the death of its staff, the station called on the international community to condemn "the Israeli occupation forces for the premeditated attack" and bring them to justice. According to the Samanews news portal, Shireen was born in Jerusalem in 1971 to a prominent Christian family in Bethlehem. She worked in various media until she joined Al Jazeera in 1997, where she remained until her death.
The Israeli army said it was investigating information about possible injuries to journalists during a shootout between the Israeli military and armed Palestinians in Jenin. The army press office did not rule out that the journalists were wounded by Palestinian militants. Meanwhile, Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid said that Palestinian authorities have been asked to conduct a joint pathological investigation into the death of the Al Jazeera reporter.
GSV "Russia - Islamic world"
Photo: Creative Commons
Based on materials from TASS