Hamas has refrained from claiming responsibility for most of the recent terror attacks against Israelis, but in speeches leaders have praised the violence and called on Palestinians to carry out more, leading Israel to warn of retaliatory measures. Three Arab-Israelis and 28 Palestinians have died, among them Abu Aqleh, an unarmed woman and two apparent bystanders, as well as the perpetrators of attacks and Palestinian gunmen fighting with Israeli forces during the raids.Īccompanying clashes at Jerusalem’s al-Aqsa mosque compound, a site holy for Jews and Muslims, have also raised fears of escalation between Israel and Hamas, the Palestinian militant group in control of the Gaza Strip. Several of the attackers came from the Jenin area. Israeli security forces have stepped up operations in the area after a spate of deadly terrorist attacks targeting Israelis that have left 19 people dead, launching near-daily raids on the hunt for terrorism suspects. Violence has surged in Jenin in recent weeks. The Palestinian Authority president, Mahmoud Abbas, said he held the Israeli military fully responsible for Abu Aqleh’s death. The White House said it strongly condemned Abu Aqleh’s killing and called for a thorough investigation to determine the circumstances of her death, as did Tom Nides, the US ambassador to Israel. Mourners next to the body of Shireen Abu Aqleh. The Israeli foreign minister, Yair Lapid, said Israel had “offered the Palestinians a joint pathological investigation”. In comments to Agence France-Presse, the Israel Defence Forces firmly denied they had deliberately targeted journalists. If there were, we wouldn’t have been in that area.” The first bullet hit me, the second one hit Shireen … There were no resistance fighters around us. All of a sudden opened fire at us, they didn’t ask us to leave or stop. Samodi told the New Palestinian from hospital: “We were there to cover the events in Jenin camp. The Palestinian health ministry confirmed Abu Aqleh’s death and said a second Al Jazeera employee, Ali Samodi, a producer, was wounded. The Israeli prime minister, Naftali Bennett, claimed there was “a considerable chance that armed Palestinians, who fired wildly, were the ones who brought about the journalist’s unfortunate death.”īut later on Wednesday the Israeli military chief, Lt Gen Aviv Kochavi, appeared to back away from officials’ earlier assertions that Palestinians were to blame, saying: “At this stage we cannot determine by whose fire she was harmed and we regret her death.” The Israeli military said its troops shot back after coming under “massive fire” in Jenin and that “there is a possibility, now being looked into, that reporters were hit – possibly by shots fired by Palestinian gunmen.” So it is obvious that the one who shot her meant to hit an exposed part of her body. “We were a group wearing press gear, and Shireen was even wearing the helmet. A guy was finally able to reach us he helped me and started pulling her. Shatha Hanaysha, a journalist for Quds News Network who witnessed the incident, said: “Even after she fell to the ground the fire did not stop and none of us were able to reach her. “In a blatant murder, violating international laws and norms, the Israeli occupation forces assassinated in cold blood Al Jazeera’s correspondent in Palestine,” it said. Al Jazeera called on the international community to hold Israeli forces accountable for their “intentional targeting and killing” of Abu Aqleh.
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