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With allegations that Israel is examining the potential that one of its troops shot veteran Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh during a raid in the occupied West Bank city of Jenin, the Israeli military is gradually recognising the possibility that one of its soldiers killed her.
According to Al Jazeera, the Palestinian-American Abu Akleh was in Jenin on Wednesday reporting on the raid when she was slain by Israeli soldiers. Multiple witnesses at the scene reported there was no conflict with Palestinian fighters at the time of the shooting.
The Israelis’ admission that an Israeli soldier could be to blame shows that they are reversing their previous view that Abu Akleh was most likely killed by Palestinian fighters in Jenin.
A video showing Palestinians firing in Jenin that was widely circulated by the Israeli government, including Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, has recently been shown not to have been filmed in Abu Akleh’s proximity when she was killed.
Israeli army sources told the Wall Street Journal and the Washington Post newspapers that Israel is investigating Abu Akleh’s death.
According to the Washington Post, a senior Israeli army officer claimed on Thursday that the army was looking into three distinct instances involving its soldiers during the time of Abu Akleh’s death.
“A soldier with a rifle and a very good aiming mechanism was shooting at a terrorist with an M16 who was shooting at our forces in very good condition, with a very clear picture.” “What we’re looking into right now is Shireen’s whereabouts,” the person told the Washington Post, adding that “this was the most likely [situation] to be implicated in Shireen’s murder.”
Military investigators had also taken guns from Israeli soldiers involved in the conflict for ballistic testing, according to the official.