• Live
    • Audio Only
  • google plus
  • facebook
  • twitter
News > Israel

Shireen Abu Akleh, Al Jazeera Journalist, Killed by Israel - UN

  • According to UN the journalist Shireen Abu Akleh was killed by Israeli security forces. Jun. 24, 2022.

    According to UN the journalist Shireen Abu Akleh was killed by Israeli security forces. Jun. 24, 2022. | Photo: Twitter/@intifada

Published 24 June 2022
Opinion

The famed Al Jazeera journalist was shot dead by Israeli forces, according to UN Human Rights Office.

On May 11, the Palestinian-American journalist was killed while covering an Israeli military raid in the occupied northern West Bank city of Jenin.

RELATED:
Israeli Soldiers Kill 3 Palestinians in Northern West Bank 

"The shots that killed Abu Akleh and wounded his colleague Ali Sammoudi came from Israeli security forces," the UN agency said, denying Israeli claims that the shooting had come from Palestinian gunfire. 

For OHCHR's investigation, official information from the Israeli Army and the Palestinian prosecutor was considered. "In accordance with our global human rights monitoring methodology, our Office inspected photographic, video and audio material, visited the scene, consulted experts, reviewed official communications and interviewed witnesses," OHCHR spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani said.

"Several single, seemingly well-aimed bullets were fired towards them from the direction of the Israeli Security Forces." "One single bullet injured Ali Sammoudi in the shoulder, and another single bullet hit Abu Akleh in the head and killed her instantly," an OHCHR spokesperson said. 

The official also said, "We have found no information to suggest that there was any activity by armed Palestinians in the vicinity of the journalists," expressing deep concern about the lack of a criminal investigation by the Israeli authorities.

Israel, for its part, has long rejected the findings of the UN agencies, accusing them of bias and claiming that they are unable to establish where the deadly shot came from. 

According to Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz, only a Palestinian Authority (PA) ballistic analysis of the bullet could determine where the shot came from. The PA has refused to hand over the ammunition and has blamed Israel for seeking to shield responsibility. 

According to the OHCHR spokesperson, "since the beginning of the year, our office has verified that Israeli security forces have killed 58 Palestinians in the West Bank, including 13 children."

OHCHR chief Michelle Bachelet continues to call on the Israeli authorities to open a criminal investigation into this killing, as well as all killings and severe injuries caused by Israeli forces in the West Bank and in the context of police operations in Gaza, Shamdasani said.

Comment
0
Comments
Post with no comments.