Al Jazeera journalist’s killing ‘systematic targeting’: Global journalist group

ANKARA – The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) has condemned the killing of a veteran Al Jazeera journalist while covering an Israeli military raid in the occupied West Bank.

Shireen Abu Akleh, 51, was shot dead while covering the Israeli raid in the city of Jenin on the morning of Wednesday May 11. Another journalist, Ali Al-Samoudi, was shot in the back, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry.

“While the full details of this horrific murder are still emerging, testimony from journalists who were with her when she was killed point towards this being another deliberate and systematic targeting of a journalist,” IFJ tweeted.

The Brussels-based federation noted that journalists, wearing press vests clearly identified, were targeted by Israeli snipers.

“We will seek to add this case to the ICC complaint submitted by the IFJ, detailing such systematic targeting,” it added.

“If we demand justice for the Russian targeting of Ukrainian journalists, we must demand an end to, and justice for, Israeli targeting and killings of Palestinian journalists,” IFJ said.

On Wednesday, the Doha-based Al Jazeera channel accused Israeli forces of deliberately assassinating its reporter “in cold blood.”

It termed the killing as a “heinous crime, which intends to only prevent the media from conducting their duty.”

Abu Akleh was born in Jerusalem, in 1971, and earned a BA in journalism and media from Yarmouk University in Jordan. She was committed to expose the truth about the reality of life under Israeli occupation in Palestine.