Jerusalem24 – Israeli forces this morning shot and killed Palestinian journalist Shireen Abu Akleh. The veteran journalist for Al Jazeera was shot in the head by an Israeli sniper while she was covering an Israeli army raid on Jenin at dawn. She was rushed to hospital where she succumbed to her wounds shortly afterwards.
A second journalist, Ali Samoudi, was critically injured when he was shot by live ammunition in the back. His condition is stable.
Shireen Abu Akleh is the first journalist to be killed in Palestine this year, however the Palestinian Journalists’ Syndicate estimates that since the year 2000, an average of 500 to 700 violations have been committed by Israeli authorities against Palestinian journalists on an annual basis, a practice that the Syndicate claims “aim[s] to silence and prevent the factual press image from being conveyed to the world.”
The year 2021 saw 562 violations against media freedom in Palestine, 368 of which were committed by the Israeli authorities. Three journalists, Youssef Abu Hussein, Abd al-Hamid Al-Kolak and Muhammad Shaheen, were killed during Israel’s 11-day assault on the Gaza strip in May, and a further 54 were wounded. 155 of the violations or 42% of the total Israeli attacks were physical attacks on journalists, including 133 which were injured with live, rubber, or metal bullets, and tear gas bombs.
According to the Palestinian Journalists’ Syndicate, over 50 Palestinian journalists have been killed since the year 2000.
