One of Al-Jazeera's most famed journalists has been shot dead by Israeli forces in the Palestinian West Bank.
Abu Akleh, who had been with the news channel since 1997, was shot in the head by a bullet fired by an Israeli security official as she covered and documented Israeli actions in the town of Jenin.
A second Al-Jazeera journalist, Ali al-Samoudi, was also shot but is now recovering in hospital.
Al-Samoudi said that there were no Palestinian militants in the area when the Israelis opened fire. Israeli forces had been carrying out a clamp-down in the region following stabbing attacks within Israel carried out by Palestinian militants.
He said:
"We were going to film the Israeli army operation and suddenly they shot us without asking us to leave or stop filming. The first bullet hit me and the second bullet hit Shireen … there was no Palestinian military resistance at all at the scene."
Another journalist who was at the scene, Shatha Hanaysha, also gave their account, saying:
"We were four journalists, we were all wearing vests, all wearing helmets. The [Israeli] occupation army did not stop firing even after she collapsed. I couldn't even extend my arm to pull her because of the shots being fired. The army was adamant on shooting to kill."
While Al Jazeera's Nida Ibrahim added:
"What we know for now is that the Palestinian health ministry has announced her death. Shireen Abu Akleh was covering the events unfolding in Jenin, specifically, an Israeli raid on the city, which is north of the occupied West Bank, when she was hit by a bullet to the head."
Medics have said that the journalist was killed instantly and even if she had made it to hospital sooner, she would not have survived.
Palestine TV correspondent Christine Rinawi, a friend of Akleh, paid tribute to her colleague online, saying:
"We would meet for hours in the field, we would be arrested together, we were wounded together. Shireen was a message throughout all her journalistic life, and even in her martyrdom, she is a message. This is a sad day, a black day. There are no words to explain the pain that we are all going through."
Akleh's body was carried in the streets following an autopsy by Palestinian investigators in tribute to her dedication to the Palestinian people.
[Based on reporting by: Al Jazeera]
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