The Israeli army said on Monday there was a \u201chigh possibility\u201d that Palestinian-American reporter Shireen Abu Akleh was shot dead by an Israeli soldier who mistook her for a militant.
\u201cThere is a high possibility that Ms Abu Akleh was accidentally hit by IDF (Israel Defence Forces) gunfire that was fired toward suspects identified as armed Palestinian gunmen,\u201d said the army\u2019s final investigation report into her May 11 death.
The acknowledgement comes after months in which the army insisted it was impossible to determine the source of the deadly shot that killed the celebrated Al Jazeera journalist in the occupied West Bank, saying it could have been militant fire.
\u201cOur conclusion is that it\u2019s not possible to determine unequivocally which gunfire killed her, but there\u2019s a higher probability that she was hit by an errant shot of an IDF soldier who did not identify her as a journalist,\u201d a senior Israeli military officer said.
Abu Akleh was wearing a bulletproof vest marked \u201cPress\u201d and a helmet when she was shot in the head during the Israeli army operation on May 11.
The Abu Akleh family on Monday said that Israel had \u201crefused to take responsibility for the murder\u201d of the journalist, in a press release issued in the wake of the Israeli army\u2019s investigation report.
\u201cWe remain deeply hurt, frustrated and disappointed,\u201d the family said, calling for a \u201ccredible\u201d US investigation.
The Palestinian Authority accused Israel of intentionally killing the reporter in the Jenin refugee camp, in the northern West Bank, whereas Israel has insisted that even if a soldier fired the fatal shot it was not deliberate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2018Call for accountability\u2019 The Israeli army said on Monday there was a \u201chigh possibility\u201d that Palestinian-American reporter Shireen Abu Akleh was shot dead by an Israeli soldier who mistook her for a militant.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":13759,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[129],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13757","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-international"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n
<\/strong>On Monday, the senior army officer told reporters that the Israeli soldiers were under heavy fire and aimed to hit Abu Akleh because they had mistaken her for a Palestinian fighter.
\u201cWhen they fired in her direction they didn\u2019t know she was a journalist, it was a mistake, they thought they were firing at terrorists shooting at them,\u201d the officer said.
\u201cHe\u2019s sorry about it and I\u2019m sorry about it too,\u201d the officer said of the soldier who shot in the direction of Abu Akleh.
\u201cHe didn\u2019t do it on purpose, it\u2019s totally clear,\u201d he added.
A United Nations investigation concluded in June that there was \u201cno evidence of activity by armed Palestinians close by\u201d when Abu Akleh was shot.
The United States on July 4 said she was likely shot by Israeli fire but that there was no evidence her killing was intentional and that the bullet was too damaged for a conclusive finding.
The US statement outraged Abu Akleh\u2019s family and Palestinian leaders who accused Washington of failing to seek accountability from Israel over the killing of the journalist, who also held US citizenship.
\u201cWe are continuing to call for accountability and for justice for Shireen,\u201d Lina Abu Akleh, the journalist\u2019s niece, said in Washington after meeting US Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
In May, Israel\u2019s military advocate had said there was no suspicion of criminal activity since the event took place in an active combat zone.
The military advocate said on Monday that the circumstances of the incident \u201cdo not raise the suspicion of a crime having been committed which would justify the opening of a criminal investigation\u201d.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"