Al Jazeera reporter dies of IDF fire in West Bank

An Al Jazeera journalist was shot dead by the IDF in the occupied West Bank, according to the Qatar-based news channel.

A Palestinian official said that she was “killed” by Israeli forces while covering a raid in the city of Jenin, which has seen military raids intensify in recent weeks at a time when violence has increased.

The Palestinian health authorities have confirmed the killing of Abu Akleh and said a second journalist, Ali Samodi, who works for Quds newspaper based in Jerusalem, was injured.

However, in a statement, the IDF claimed that its troops had retaliated after suffering “mass fire” in Jenin and that “there is a possibility, that the journalists were hit, possibly by shots fired by Palestinians.”

Meanwhile, a reporter working with Akleh, Nida Ibrahim, Akleh was a “well-respected journalist” who had been working with Al Jazeera since the start of the second Palestinian intifada in 2000. “As you can imagine, it comes as a shock to the reporters who worked with her.”

Immediately following the news, human rights activists, fellow journalists, and politicians spoke out on Twitter about the incident and expressed condolences.