UN says Al Jazeera journalist killed by Israeli gunfire
Shots were not from indiscriminate firing by armed Palestinians, Human Rights Office spokesperson says
Shots were not from indiscriminate firing by armed Palestinians, Human Rights Office spokesperson says
The United Nations (UN) said on Friday its findings showed the shot that killed AlJazeera TV journalist Shireen Abu Akleh was fired on May 11 by Israeli forces.
The American-Palestinian journalist, who wore a vest marked “Press” and a helmet, was killed on May 11 while covering an Israeli army operation in the Jenin camp in the northern West Bank.
“We find that the shots that killed Abu Akleh came from Israeli security forces,” UN Human Rights Office spokeswoman Ravina Shamdasani told reporters in Geneva.
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“It is deeply disturbing that the Israeli authorities have failed to conduct a criminal investigation. At the United Nations Human Rights Office, we have concluded our independent monitoring of the incident. The shots that killed Abu Akleh and injured his colleague Ali Sammoudi came from Israeli security forces and not from indiscriminate shooting by armed Palestinians, as the Israeli authorities initially claimed,” she said.
She added that the information came from the Israeli army and the Palestinian attorney general.
“We found no information to suggest there was any activity by armed Palestinians in the immediate vicinity of the journalists,” Ms Shamdasani said.
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In accordance with its human rights monitoring methodology, the human rights office inspected photo, video and audio material, visited locations, consulted experts, reviewed official communications and interviewed witnesses.
The results showed that seven journalists arrived at the western entrance of the Jenin refugee camp shortly after 6 a.m.
At around 6:30 a.m., as four of the reporters were turning down a particular street, “several isolated bullets, apparently well targeted, were fired at them from the direction of the Israeli security forces. A single bullet injured Ali Sammoudi in the shoulder; another bullet hit Abu Akleh in the head and killed her instantly.
UN human rights chief Michelle Bachelet has urged Israel to open a criminal investigation into the killing of Abu Akleh and all other killings by Israeli forces in the West Bank and in operations policing in Gaza.