Israeli security forces fired bullets that killed Palestinian journalist, UN reveals

Israeli security forces fired the bullets that killed journalist Shireen Abu Akleh in May, a UN report has found.

Abu Akleh, an Al Jazeera correspondent, was shot dead on 11 May while covering a raid in the occupied West Bank town of Jenin.

The UN’s report said that just after 6am, seven journalists arrived at the refugee camp in Jenin. Half an hour later the group of reporters turned into a street and were shot at by Israeli forces.

“One single bullet injured Ali Sammoudi in the shoulder; another single bullet hit Abu Akleh in the head and killed her instantly,” the report said.

Another journalist working for the publication Al-Quds, Ali Sammoudi, was also shot and wounded in the incident.

“We find that the shots that killed Abu Akleh came from Israeli security forces,” UN Human Rights Office spokeswoman Ravina Shamdasani told reporters in Geneva.

“It is deeply disturbing that Israeli authorities have not conducted a criminal investigation.

“We at the UN Human Rights Office have concluded our independent monitoring into the incident.

“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,” she said.

Israeli and Palestinians officials have clashed over the incident, and Israel has previously denied any of its soldiers “targeted a journalist”.

An earlier investigation by Palestinian authorities concluded that Israeli forces deliberately shot and killed the experienced reporter.

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