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Two years since the assassination of Sherine Abu Aqla...the coverage continues and the killing of journalists does not stop

Doha - May 11, 2024:

The assassination of journalist Sherine Abu Aqla is still a witness to the brutality of the Israeli army in targeting journalists and media professionals in cold blood to silence the free media and prevent it from conveying the image of the bloody occupation massacres and the tragedies of the Palestinian people to the world. Two years ago, occupation soldiers treacherously fired bullets into Sherine’s head while she was performing her duties as part of the Al Jazeera crew covering the Israeli occupation forces’ storming of the Jenin camp. She died in full view of the world, via Al Jazeera’s camera. That scene would be repeated often until now, as long as the perpetrators escaped. Accounting. On the morning of May 11, 2022, Sherine was hit by a direct bullet in the head while covering the Israeli occupation forces’ storming of the camp. She appeared lying on the ground, amidst the sounds of intermittent gunfire by Israeli occupation forces soldiers, and close to her colleague, Shatha Hanaysha, who confirmed The occupation army deliberately opened fire on the Al Jazeera crew, as they waited for the media crew to arrive in an open area, and began heavy shooting. Shatha Hanaysha confirmed that the occupation forces prevented ambulances from arriving to rescue Sherine Abu Aqla, and her colleague Ali Samoudi, the Al Jazeera producer, who accompanied Sherine at the moment of her assassination, as he also received a bullet in his back.. He confirmed that Sherine was killed in cold blood, and that the occupation forces continued to fire after he was wounded. . In Al Jazeera's first statement, it condemned Sherine's assassination and described it as a "heinous" and "tragic crime" through which it was intended to prevent the media from fulfilling its message. Al Jazeera accused Israeli soldiers of "directly" targeting its correspondent. It quoted eyewitnesses as saying: “A sniper targeted Sherine with a bullet to the face, even though she was wearing a jacket and helmet bearing the press logo.” She added: “We hold the Israeli government and the occupation forces responsible for the killing of our late colleague Sherine.” The network called on the international community to condemn and hold the Israeli occupation forces accountable for deliberately targeting and killing our colleague Sherine. On May 13, 2022, an official farewell ceremony was held for our colleague Sherine at the Palestinian presidential headquarters in Ramallah. In preparation for transporting her to her final resting place, the occupation authorities obstructed the ceremony of transporting the body four times, by preventing the mourners from raising pictures of her or raising the flag of Palestine, and as chants denouncing the crime and in support of Palestinian rights increased, the occupation soldiers suppressed the funeral procession, and assaulted the mourners and the coffin of the deceased, almost causing it to fall. From the hands of mourners. The Israeli army conducted internal investigations in which it concluded that there was a high probability that Shirin was mistakenly hit by fire from its forces, but it did not open a criminal investigation and did not hold any of its soldiers accountable. The New York Times published the results of a lengthy investigation it conducted three weeks after her assassination, which concluded that the bullet that killed her was fired from the location where the Israeli military convoy was located. The investigation confirmed that the bullet was most likely fired by a soldier from the elite forces. The American newspaper criticized the failure to initiate an official external investigation, noting Israel's rejection of the decisive role of brave journalists - such as Sherine Abu Aqla - in reporting the escalating violence against the Palestinians. The Hebrew newspaper Haaretz reported on a preliminary investigation by the Israeli army stating that Shirin Abu Aqla was killed by a 5.56 mm bullet, fired from an M16 rifle, a type of bullet used by “Dudfman”, a special unit of the Israeli army that was present at the site of the assassination. “Sherine Abu Aqla.” The American CNN network published an independent report based on the evidence it collected, in which it confirmed that the evidence indicates that there were no gunmen or armed confrontations in the area that witnessed the killing of Abu Aqla, pointing out that Shirin was targeted by Israeli forces. The report showed that the shooter was between 177 and 197 meters away from where she fell. The report of the United Nations Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the killing of “Sherine Abu Aqleh” on October 25, 2023 concluded that Israeli forces used “unjustified lethal force” in targeting journalist Sherine Abu Aqleh, and the report highlighted the urgent need to hold Sherine’s killers and those involved accountable. In targeting it. This prompted Al Jazeera to ask the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, Karim Khan, to begin investigations into the killing of Sherine Abu Aqla without delay. Sherine Abu Aqleh was born in January 1971 in Jerusalem. She graduated from the Rosary Sisters School in Beit Hanina in Jerusalem, and holds American citizenship. She holds a BA in Journalism and Media from Yarmouk University of Jordan, specializing in written journalism.