{"id":15288,"date":"2022-05-12T09:17:07","date_gmt":"2022-05-12T09:17:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pakistanintheworld.pk\/live\/?p=15288"},"modified":"2022-05-12T09:17:07","modified_gmt":"2022-05-12T09:17:07","slug":"shireen-abu-akleh-al-jazeera-reporter-killed-by-israeli-forces","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pakistanintheworld.pk\/live\/shireen-abu-akleh-al-jazeera-reporter-killed-by-israeli-forces\/","title":{"rendered":"Shireen Abu Akleh: Al Jazeera reporter killed by Israeli forces"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"article-b-l\">\n<div class=\"article-author-name\"><span class=\"article-by\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-15289\" src=\"https:\/\/pakistanintheworld.pk\/live\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/Al-Jazeera.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"700\" height=\"481\" srcset=\"https:\/\/pakistanintheworld.pk\/live\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/Al-Jazeera.jpg 700w, https:\/\/pakistanintheworld.pk\/live\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/Al-Jazeera-300x206.jpg 300w, https:\/\/pakistanintheworld.pk\/live\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/Al-Jazeera-100x70.jpg 100w, https:\/\/pakistanintheworld.pk\/live\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/Al-Jazeera-218x150.jpg 218w, https:\/\/pakistanintheworld.pk\/live\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/Al-Jazeera-696x478.jpg 696w, https:\/\/pakistanintheworld.pk\/live\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/Al-Jazeera-611x420.jpg 611w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 700px) 100vw, 700px\" \/>By\u00a0<\/span><span class=\"article-author-name-item\"><a class=\"author-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/author\/zena_tahhan_160505115436507\">Zena Al Tahhan<\/a><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"article-dates\">\n<div class=\"date-updated\">\n<div class=\"date-updated__date\">for Al Jazeera<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"social-share-buttons\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"article-info-block css-ti04u9\">\n<div class=\"social-share-buttons\"><strong>Ramallah, Occupied West Bank \u2013<\/strong> Israeli forces have shot dead Al Jazeera\u2019s journalist Shireen Abu Akleh in the occupied West Bank, according to witnesses and the Palestinian health ministry.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wysiwyg wysiwyg--all-content css-1ck9wyi\">\n<p>Abu Akleh, a longtime TV correspondent for Al Jazeera Arabic, was killed on Wednesday while covering Israeli army raids in the city of Jenin in the northern occupied West Bank.<\/p>\n<p>She was rushed to a hospital in Jenin in critical condition, where she was declared dead shortly after, at 7:15am (4:15 GMT), according to the Palestinian health ministry.<\/p>\n<p>Abu Akleh was wearing a press vest and was standing with other journalists when she was killed.<\/p>\n<p>Another Al Jazeera journalist, Ali al-Samoudi, was also wounded by a bullet in the back at the scene. He is now in stable condition.<\/p>\n<p>The head of the medicine department at al-Najah University in Nablus confirmed that Abu Akleh was shot in the head. He said that her body was transferred for an autopsy based on an order from the public prosecution.<\/p>\n<p data-inc=\"1\">Abu Akleh\u2019s body was carried out of the university coated in a Palestinian flag, after which she will be taken to the Istishari Hospital in Ramallah.<\/p>\n<p>An official funeral will be held for her tomorrow morning at the Palestinian presidency headquarters in Ramallah.<\/p>\n<p>Al-Samoudi and other journalists at the scene said there were no Palestinian fighters present when the journalists were shot, directly disputing an Israeli statement referencing the possibility that it was Palestinian fire.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe were going to film the Israeli army operation and suddenly they shot us without asking us to leave or stop filming,\u201d said al-Samoudi.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe first bullet hit me and the second bullet hit Shireen \u2026 there was no Palestinian military resistance at all at the scene.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Shatha Hanaysha, a local journalist who was standing next to Abu Akleh when she was shot, also told Al Jazeera that there had been no confrontations between Palestinian fighters and the Israeli army. She said the group of journalists had been directly targeted.<\/p>\n<p data-inc=\"2\">\u201cWe were four journalists, we were all wearing vests, all wearing helmets,\u201d Hanaysha said. \u201cThe [Israeli] occupation army did not stop firing even after she collapsed. I couldn\u2019t even extend my arm to pull her because of the shots being fired. The army was adamant on shooting to kill.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The details of Abu Akleh\u2019s killing are still emerging, but videos of the incident show that she was shot in the head, said Al Jazeera\u2019s Nida Ibrahim.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat we know for now is that the Palestinian health ministry has announced her death. Shireen Abu Akleh was covering the events unfolding in Jenin, specifically, an Israeli raid on the city, which is north of the occupied West Bank, when she was hit by a bullet to the head,\u201d Ibrahim said, speaking from the Palestinian city of Ramallah.<\/p>\n<p>In her last email to the network, Abu Akleh sent a message to Al Jazeera\u2019s Ramallah bureau at 6:13am (3:13 GMT) in which she wrote: \u201cOccupation forces storm Jenin and besiege a house in the Jabriyat neighbourhood. On the way there \u2013 I will bring you news as soon as the picture becomes clear.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Separately on Wednesday in the occupied West Bank, the Palestinian health ministry said an 18 year old Palestinian, Thaer Mislet-Yazouri, was shot dead by Israeli forces in the town of al-Bireh, near the illegal settlement of Psagot.<\/p>\n<p>Abu Akleh, who was a dual Palestinian-American national, was one of Al Jazeera\u2019s first field correspondents, joining the network in 1997.<\/p>\n<p data-inc=\"3\">Grief and sorrow filled the Al Jazeera offices in downtown Ramallah as the news quickly spread and dozens of colleagues, fellow journalists, friends, and Palestinian figures poured in, including Palestinian politicians Hanan Ashrawi and Khalida Jarrar.<\/p>\n<p>Palestinian MP Khalida Jarrar said that Abu Akleh was the voice of Palestinians and was killed by \u201cthe monstrosity of Israeli colonialism and occupation\u201d.<\/p>\n<p data-inc=\"6\">\u201cShireen was always my voice from the prison cells,\u201d Jarrar told Al Jazeera, adding that a month into her last detention by Israel, Shireen was the first person she saw at her court hearings.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShireen was our voice. It is unbelievable. It is a crime, it is all clear \u2013 intentional and direct targeting. She was targeted. It\u2019s clear,\u201d said Jarrar.<\/p>\n<p>The Palestinian presidency condemned the killing, saying in a statement that it holds the Israeli occupation responsible.<\/p>\n<p>Palestinian Authority (PA) government spokesperson Ibrahim Melhem described it as a \u201ccomprehensive crime committed against a well-known journalist\u201d.<\/p>\n<p data-inc=\"4\">\u201cThe killing was deliberate\u2026 There will be an autopsy by Palestinian medics, which will be followed by a report including all the details of the killing,\u201d Melhem told Al Jazeera.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHowever, all the witnesses present at the scene of the crime ensures that it was an Israeli sniper that committed the crime in a deliberate way.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Yair Lapid, the Israeli foreign minister, said Tel Aviv was offering a \u201cjoint pathological investigation\u201d into Abu Akleh\u2019s \u201csad death\u201d. He added that \u201cjournalists must be protected in conflict zones\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>One of Abu Akleh\u2019s former colleagues, Mohammad Hawwash, who knew her for more than 25 years, said she was a \u201creal journalist\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShereen was a professional and unbiased journalist who conveyed the reality and events as they are,\u201d Hawwash, 70, told Al Jazeera.<\/p>\n<p>Palestine TV correspondent Christine Rinawi, who was often with Abu Akleh in the field in Jerusalem, said the late reporter was a \u201cprofessor in the world of journalism.\u201d<\/p>\n<p data-inc=\"5\">\u201cWe would meet for hours in the field, we would be arrested together, we were wounded together.\u00a0Shireen was a message throughout all her journalistic life, and even in her martyrdom, she is a message,\u201d Rinawi told Al Jazeera.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis is a sad day, a black day. There are no words to explain the pain that we are all going through,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n<p>The Israeli military said its soldiers had come under attack with heavy gunfire and explosives while operating in Jenin, and that they fired back. It added that it was \u201cinvestigating the event\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>Al Jazeera\u2019s offices in the Gaza Strip, in a building that also housed the Associated Press, were bombed by Israeli forces during an offensive a year ago, and Palestinian and international journalists say they have been regularly targeted by Israeli forces in the occupied West Bank and occupied East Jerusalem.<\/p>\n<p>Many in Palestine and abroad took to social media to express their shock and grief.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIsraeli 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,\u201d wrote Husam Zomlot, the Palestinian ambassador to the United Kingdom.<\/p>\n<p>Those who knew her described her as brave, kind and a voice for the Palestinians.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShireen was a brave, kind and high integrity journalist that I and millions of Palestinians grew up watching,\u201d wrote Fadi Quran, an activist at the campaign group, Avaaz.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHorrified to hear of Israel\u2019s killing of Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh in Jenin! Shireen has boldly covered Israel\u2019s aggression in Palestine for over two decades,\u201d wrote Huwaida Arraf, a Palestinian-American activist and lawyer.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIn disbelief,\u201d wrote Salem Barahmeh, a Palestinian activist. \u201cWe grew up to her reporting on the second intifada. She was our voice. Rest in power and peace. Another day, another tragedy.\u201d<\/p>\n<p data-inc=\"7\">Giles Trendle, Al Jazeera\u2019s managing director, said the network was \u201cshocked and saddened\u201d by the death of Shireen Abu Akleh.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe have had a history throughout the world but particularly in this region, where we have had tragedies,\u201d he said, calling for a transparent investigation of the killing of Abu Akleh.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAs journalists, we carry on. Our mission is to carry on. We will not be silenced,\u201d said Trendle. \u201cOur mission is always to carry on to inform the world what is happening. And that is more important ever.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By\u00a0Zena Al Tahhan for Al Jazeera Ramallah, Occupied West Bank \u2013 Israeli forces have shot dead Al Jazeera\u2019s journalist Shireen Abu Akleh in the occupied West Bank, according to witnesses and the Palestinian health ministry. Abu Akleh, a longtime TV correspondent for Al Jazeera Arabic, was killed on Wednesday while covering Israeli army raids in [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":15289,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24],"tags":[1839,2436,2437,932,285,2435,1646],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pakistanintheworld.pk\/live\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15288"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pakistanintheworld.pk\/live\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pakistanintheworld.pk\/live\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pakistanintheworld.pk\/live\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pakistanintheworld.pk\/live\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15288"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/pakistanintheworld.pk\/live\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15288\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15290,"href":"https:\/\/pakistanintheworld.pk\/live\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15288\/revisions\/15290"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pakistanintheworld.pk\/live\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15289"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pakistanintheworld.pk\/live\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15288"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pakistanintheworld.pk\/live\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15288"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pakistanintheworld.pk\/live\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15288"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}