Friday, March 29, 2024

Shireen Abu Akleh is the 12th Al Jazeera journalist to be killed on the job

Since launching in 1996, 12 Al Jazeera journalists have been killed in the line of duty.

Shireen Abu Akleh — the second journalist hired by Al Jazeera in the Palestinian territories — became the 12th journalist from the channel to be killed on duty since it started broadcasting.

On Wednesday, veteran Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh has been shot and killed by Israeli forces in the occupied West Bank.

The 51-year-old was covering an Israeli army raid on the Jenin refugee camp when she was shot in the face by a single bullet, despite wearing a press vest.

Al Jazeera journalists shed tears during the minute when its broadcasts were silenced as a tribute to the journalist who joined the channel shortly after it opened in 1996.

Abu Akleh was wearing a helmet and a bulletproof vest, with “press” clearly written on it, when she was shot.

Eleven of Al Jazeera’s war correspondents have been killed on the front lines earlier.

They were:

Al Jazeera has accused Israeli security forces of deliberately targeting and killing Abu Akleh and called on the international community to condemn and hold Israel accountable.

Abu Akleh was born and raised in Jerusalem and belonged to a Christian family, according to Bir Zeit University, where she was a teacher.

She had worked with UNRWA, Voice of Palestine Radio, Amman Satellite Channel, the Miftah Foundation and Monte Carlo Radio before joining Al Jazeera.

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