Israel’s military, for the first time has tendered an apology, for the death of Al Jazeera’s journalist, Shireen Abu Akleh.
She was shot in the back of the head and killed in the West Bank while covering an Israeli military operation in Jenin last May.
Their apology came after a year she was shot dead in a close range.
The journalist was tragically gunned down on May 11, 2022, while another journalist Ali Al Samudi who was present with Akleh was also shot.
After changing its version of what happened several times, Israel’s military said Ms Abu Akleh, who was wearing a clearly marked protective press vest and helmet, was likely unintentionally shot by an Israeli soldier but could have also been hit by Palestinian fire.
Witnesses have said there were no Palestinian fighters firing in the area where Ms Abu Akleh was standing, and her family and Palestinian officials believe Israeli forces killed her deliberately.
‘I think it’s an opportunity for me to say here that we are very sorry for the death of Shireen Abu Akleh,’ IDF’s chief spokesman, Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari issued the apology while granting CNN interview.
It is the first time the IDF has apologized for the killing of the well-known correspondent, after conceding last year that there was a ‘high possibility’ she was shot by an Israeli soldier.
‘She was a journalist, a very established journalist. In Israel, we value our democracy and in a democracy, we see high value in journalism and in a free press. We want journalists to feel safe in Israel, especially in wartime, even if they criticize us,’ said Hagari.
The apology comes days after The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) published a report that said it had found no accountability was taken by the Israeli military over its killings of at least 20 journalists over the past two decades.
The press advocacy group said it had documented at least 20 journalists killed by Israeli military fire since 2001, adding 18 of those killed were Palestinian.
‘No one has ever been charged or held accountable for these deaths,’ it said in the press release.
While the IDF admitted for the first time last September that there was a ‘high possibility’ Abu Akleh was ‘accidentally’ shot and killed by Israeli fire, its Military Advocate General’s Office said in a statement that it did not intend to pursue criminal charges or prosecutions of any of the soldiers involved.
Responding to the CPJ report earlier this month, the IDF said it ‘regrets any harm to civilians during operational activity and considers the protection of the freedom of the press and the professional work of journalists to be of great importance.
‘The IDF does not intentionally target noncombatants, and live fire in combat is used only after all other options have been exhausted,’ it said in the statement.
