UN Says Shots That Killed Al Jazeera's Shireen Abu Akleh Came From Israeli Side

It stated that the "seemingly well-aimed bullets" that killed her came from the "direction of the Israeli forces."

Al-Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh.

(Photo: Twitter/AJEnglish)

The United Nations (UN) stated on Friday, 24 June, that according to the information that it had collected, the bullet that killed Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh on 11 May was fired by the Israeli forces.

"All information we have gathered … 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," UN Human Rights Office (OHCHR) spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani told reporters in Geneva on Friday.

"The journalists said they chose a side street for their approach to avoid the location of armed Palestinians inside the camp and that they proceeded slowly in order to make their presence visible to the Israeli forces deployed down the street. Our findings indicate that no warnings were issued and no shooting was taking place at that time and at that location. Several single, seemingly well-aimed bullets were fired towards them [the journalists] from the direction of the Israeli security forces."

Ravina Shamdasani, UN Human Rights Office

What Had Happened

The shooting happened in May in the city of Jenin during an Israeli raid in West Bank, and Akleh was rushed to the hospital in critical condition where she was declared dead on arrival.

Al Jazeera had asserted that 51-year-old Akleh was shot deliberately and "in cold blood" by Israeli forces while she was covering the unrest in Jenin.

Shireen Abu Akleh had covered the Gaza wars of 2008, 2009, 2012, 2014, and 2021, and even reported on the jailbreak of six Palestinians who escaped in September 2021 from one of the Israel's most secure jails via a tunnel overnight.

She had also reported on major events across the Arab region, including the war in Lebanon in 2006.

"I chose journalism to be close to the people," she had said in one video. "It may be difficult to change reality, but at least I managed to bring that voice to the world."

Click here to read more about Shireen Abu Akleh.