Israel says ‘high possibility’ its military killed journal Shireen Abu Akleh

The Israeli military said on Monday that there was a “high possibility” that a soldier killed Al Jazeera journal Shireen Abu Akleh in May.
“There is a high possibility that Ms. Abu Akleh was accidentally hit IDF gunfire that was fired toward suspects identified as armed Palestinian gunmen,” Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said in a statement published on Monday about an internal investigation of her death.
Abu Akleh was killed while covering an Israeli military operation at a refugee camp in the city of Jenin in the occupied West Bank.

The Palestinians blamed Israel for the killing, but Israel initially said the journal might have been killed militant fire, and later that it was impossible to determine who had fired the deadly shot. Palestinian accounts and those from other journals on the scene argued from the start that it was clear which side had shot Abu Akleh.
A memorial at the site where the veteran television correspondent Shireen Abu Akleh was killed on May 11, 2022, in Jenin, West Bank, May 25, 2022. (Samar Hazboun/the New York Times)
Now the Israeli investigation, which included interviews with soldiers, analysis of the scene as well as audio and video recordings, found a soldier may have hit her make during an exchange of fire.
“Our conclusion is that it’s not possible to determine unequivocally which gunfire killed her, but there’s a higher probability that she was hit an errant shot of an IDF soldier who did not identify her as a journal,” a senior Israeli military officer said.
No soldier to be charged
The IDF said its troops came under heavy fire from all sides and had fired back, including towards the area where Abu Akleh was standing.

Other witness accounts of the incident have disputed that Israeli positions were under fire from the area where the journals were.
Colleagues and friends react as the Palestinian flag-draped body of veteran Al-Jazeera journal Shireen Abu Akleh is brought to the news channel’s office in the West Bank city of Ramallah, May 11, 2022. (AP)
But the IDF says its investigation showed that soldiers had acted according to their rules of engagement and said no one would be charged.
Abu Akleh’s family criticized the investigation, saying the military “tried to obscure the truth and avoid responsibility” for the killing.
Ali Samoudi, a longtime Al Jazeera producer who woke his colleague Shireen Abu Akleh to urge her to go to the scene of a gunbattle, in Jenin, West Bank, May 23, 2022. (Samar Hazboun/the New York Times)

“Our family is not surprised this outcome since it’s obvious to anyone that Israeli war criminals cannot investigate their own crimes. However, we remain deeply hurt, frustrated and disappointed,” they said in a statement.
Shatha Hanaysha, a freelance journal who hid a wall behind a tree when the shooting began that killed the veteran television correspondent Shireen Abu Akleh, in Jenin, West Bank, June 1, 2022. (Samar Hazboun/the New York Times)
Abu Akleh, a Palestinian-American journal, was a longtime correspondent for the Qatar-based broadcaster Al Jazeera, and was renowned for her reporting in the Middle East.
Her death sparked outrage and condemnation. She was wearing a bulletproof vest marked “Press” and a helmet when she was shot in the head on May 11. Her colleague Ali Samoudi was also wounded.
Tensions heightened further when video footage of Israeli security forces attacking the pallbearers carrying Abu Akleh’s coffin at her funeral went viral days after her death.
Abu Akleh’s family push for ICC probe
Monday’s announcement the Israeli military, nearly four months after the killing, largely align with those of several independent investigations completed earlier.
Sleem Awad, left, a stander who was taking video when the gunfire erupted that killed the veteran television correspondent Shireen Abu Akleh, with his mother and brother at their home in a refugee camp in Jenin, West Bank, May 25, 2022. (Samar Hazboun/the New York Times)
A report from the US State Department in July concluded that she was probably killed fire from an Israeli position.
A report from the United Nations human rights office in June said she was clearly identifiable as a journal when she was shot and killed a single bullet.
Abu Akleh’s family reiterated their call for an independent US investigation and a probe the International Criminal Court.