Tensions between Isreal and Palestine have gone from bad to worse as Palestine grieves Palestinian reporter Shireen Abu Akleh, who was working for Al Jazeera’s Arabic language channel and got shot in the city of Jenin on Wednesday; Akleh died shortly after. At the same time, another Palestinian reporter was injured and is in stable condition after being shot in the back.
An unexplained emergence of conflict occurred starting with a string of randomized killings in Israel a few weeks before the aligning of Passover, Ramadan, and Easter. In recent months, a barrage of shootings have taken place in Israel at the hand of seemingly radicalized Palestinians. A shooting that occurred at the start of April resulted in the death of three Israelis and a short lock-down as local police hunted down the killer.
Following a wave of attacks by Israeli Arabs and Palestinians on the streets of Israel and the West Bank in recent weeks that left seventeen Israelis and two Ukrainians dead, the Israeli military stepped up raids on Jenin. Four of the Palestinians who carried out attacks in Israel came from the Jenin district. Many Palestinians have gotten murdered, including assailants killed while carrying out assaults and militants and bystanders killed during Israeli raids and clashes.
Following the killing of Shireen, Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas declared that Israel was “fully responsible” for her death and promised he would immediately refer the killing to the International Criminal Court (ICC). Abbas said, “We hold the Israeli occupation authorities fully responsible for her killing, and they will not be able to conceal the truth with this crime.”
For nearly two decades, Shireen had reported on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict for Al Jazeera’s Arabic news channel. Al Jazeera accused Israeli forces of assassinating Shireen “in cold blood” and called for them to be held accountable for the “intentional targeting and killing of a journalist.” Neither the ICC nor the Israeli government immediately responded to the Palestinian call for justice. The Israeli government does not recognize the ICC’s authority and has refused to cooperate with an investigation into possible war crimes in the occupied territories.
As the two countries continue to finger point, their leaders are doing nothing but enraging their civilians. Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said that based on the information they had already gathered in Israel’s investigation, “there is a considerable chance that armed Palestinians, who fired wildly, were the ones who brought about the journalist’s unfortunate death.”
Shocking many followers of this story is a video showing the shoot-out. The video has been verified by SkyNews and is 3.35 minutes long, running continuously. The repetition of the video indicates that the footage has yet to remove or add any segments. The video begins with the sound of shots being fired, but the camera is pointing away from where Shireen was. Seconds after the gunfire is heard, people shout for an ambulance and say that Shireen had been hit.
The video went on to show a woman lying face down on the floor wearing a blue flak jacket with the words’ press’ in white capital letters and a helmet. A reporter working as Shireen’s producer said they were among seven other reporters who went to cover the raid. He went on to say the military’s suggestion militants shot them was a “complete lie.”
As rage fuels the two countries’ distaste for one another, the U.N., U.S., and E.U. have called for an independent and transparent investigation to find the truth and end animosities.
