The United Nations Human Rights Office determined that Shireen Abu Akleh, a well-known Palestinian-American reporter for Al Jazeera, was fatally wounded by Israeli forces.
Abu Akleh was fatally wounded on May 11 while covering an Israeli raid in the occupied West Bank town of Jenin. A producer, Ali Sammoudi, was also wounded during the incident.
Al Jazeera accused Israeli forces of "deliberately targeting and killing our colleague.”
The United Nations confirmed Al Jazeera’s claims that Israeli forces were behind her death. The U.N. called on Israel to conduct a criminal investigation.
“All information we have gathered – including official information from the Israeli military and the Palestinian Attorney-General – is consistent with the finding that the shots that killed Abu Akleh and injured her colleague Ali Sammoudi came from Israeli Security Forces and not from indiscriminate firing by armed Palestinians, as initially claimed by Israeli authorities,” the U.N. said. “We have found no information suggesting that there was activity by armed Palestinians in the immediate vicinity of the journalists.”
The U.N. said its evidence indicated that the reporters were clearly marked with press identification. The investigation also found that Israeli forces fired at another journalist and a bystander attempting to reach Abu Akleh’s body.
The Arabic-language network has a broad reach around the Middle East. The network also has an English-language counterpart covering news and events throughout the Middle East.