Al Jazeera journalist shot dead in Palestine's Jenin

Journalists surround the body of Shireen Abu Akleh, a journalist for Al Jazeera network, into the morgue inside the Hospital in the West Bank town of Jenin. Pic/PTI

An Al Jazeera journalist was tragically gunned down on Wednesday while she was on assignment in the West Bank in Jenin, media reported.

While the journalist Shireen Abu Akleh was killed, another journalist Ali Al Samudi who was present with Akleh was also shot, reported CNN. The condition of Samudi has been reported to be currently stable.

Al Jazeera has accused the security forces of Israel of deliberately targeting Abu Akleh and indulging in the act of killing her, reported CNN. They have urged the international community to condemn and hold Israel responsible for the incident.

Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said their security personnel had been operating in the Jenin region to arrest suspects engaged in terrorist activities. They further added that when Abu Alekh was shot, both Palestinian suspects and Israeli forces were firing simultaneously.

"As part of the activity in the Jenin refugee camp, suspects fired heavily at the force and threw explosives. The force responded by firing. Hits were detected," said the IDF.

Further, whether the Palestinian gunfire was behind Abu Alekh's cause of death is being investigated, reported CNN. "The event is being examined" added the IDF.

However, according to Al-Samudi, when Abu Akleh was killed, no Palestinian gunmen were present in the area. He blamed the Israeli army for the shooting.

Israeli Foreign Minister, Yair Lapid tweeted that his government is ready to conduct a collaborative Israeli-Palestinian investigation, reported CNN. In addition, he stated that journalists must be provided protection in conflict zones.

As per the Bir Zeit University where she was a teacher, Abu Akleh belonged to a Christian family, born and raised in Jerusalem itself. Before she started working for Al Jazeera, Abu Akleh had worked with Voice of Palestine Radio, Amman Satellite Channel, the Miftah Foundation and Monte Carlo Radio as well.

This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever.