Israeli investigations into the killing of Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh in May this year have concluded that she was likely shot by an Israeli soldier but was not an intentional target of fire, the military said on Monday.
US-Palestinian citizen Abu Akleh was shot to death on May 11 while covering an Israeli military operation in the occupied West Bank city of Jenin, in circumstances that remain hotly contested.
Israeli military says troops conducting the operations were under heavy fire from all sides and retaliated, including firing into the area where Abu Akleh was standing, about 200 meters away. They say they were unable to identify her as a journalist.
According to a report by the United Nations human rights office released in June, Abu Akleh was with other reporters and was clearly identifiable with the press statements on his blue bulletproof vest. A colleague of hers was wounded in the incident by another bullet. According to the document, the information gathered suggests that she was killed by an Israeli soldier.
The Israeli Armed Forces (IDF) statement said Monday that “there is a high possibility that Ms Abu Akleh was accidentally hit by IDF shots that were fired at suspects identified as Palestinian gunmen”, but adds that it is also possible that it was hit by Palestinian militants.
The death of Abu Akleh, one of the best-known faces in reporting on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict for two decades, has sparked outrage around the world, particularly after police beat up people carrying his coffin at his funeral in Jerusalem.
Other eyewitness accounts of the journalist’s death disputed that Israeli positions were under fire from the area where Abu Akleh was stationed.
“All the evidence, facts and investigations that have been conducted have proved that Israel was the perpetrator, who killed Shireen and should take responsibility for this crime,” said Nabil Abu Rudeineh, a spokesman for Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.
The Israeli investigation, which included interviews with IDF soldiers, scene analysis and audio and video recordings, found that “it is not possible to unambiguously determine the origin of the shooting” that killed Abu Akleh.
But Israel has repeatedly denied that it was knowingly targeted by its forces and said the investigation showed the soldiers acted in accordance with its rules of engagement.
“We can say with 100% certainty that no IDF soldier has intentionally directed fire at a reporter or person not involved on the ground,” said a high-ranking military official who briefed journalists on the investigation’s findings.
Palestinian officials and Abu Akleh’s own family said they believed she was deliberately killed and rejected Israeli claims that there were armed militants close to where she was.
A forensic examination of the bullet that killed her, carried out under US supervision in July, came to no conclusion because the bullet was so badly damaged.
A US State Department report in July concluded that she was likely killed by fire from an Israeli position, but that there was no evidence to suggest she was intentionally targeted by Israeli forces.
