Public opinion report
The Palestinian Territories.. The press, media and children are in the range of fire
The Observatory: We strongly condemn the Israeli army’s targeting of journalist Shireen Abu Akleh
Buenos Aires – condemns “The International Observatory for Documenting of human rights violations” in the strongest terms the killing of Palestinian journalist Al-Jazeera Qatari Channel correspondent, “Shirin Abu Akleh” during the Israeli army military operation broke into the Jenin refugee camp in the northern West Bank, on Wednesday 11/5/2022 morning.
The “Observatory” is following with great shock the news of the killing of journalist “Abu Akleh ” (50 years old) during her legitimate field work, as information and documentation indicate that she was hit by a sniper bullet directly to the head, despite she was wearing a shield with the press insignia and a protective helmet that clearly distinguishes her from the others present in the place.
Preliminary investigations also indicate that the journalist “Abu Akleh ” was killed by an Israeli bullet that hit her below her ear in the unprotected area of the helmet she was wearing, according to testimonies obtained from eyewitnesses, in addition to information provided by “Palestinian and Israeli” human rights organizations.
According to the testimonies, at approximately 6:30 a.m. “Wednesday morning ” a vehicle carrying a group of journalists arrived at the first roundabout in Jenin camp to cover the Israeli army’s incursion into the camp, where army forces were deployed, and army snipers climbed onto the roofs of a number of houses in the camp. The journalist, “Abu Akleh ” got out of the vehicle, wearing protective clothing for the press, and took several steps, when one of the “Israeli snipers shot her with a live bullet below the ear, specifically in the only area not covered by the helmet.” According to the testimony of an eyewitness.
According to the information documented by human rights and media organizations, the fact of “Abu Akleh” ‘s injury may indicate that the Israeli army struck her in a lethal area, in a deliberate manner, while the soldiers continued to shoot at anyone who tried to approach her, which hindered her first aid for several minutes.
In the same incident, journalist “Ali Samoudi” was shot in the back and was taken to hospital in moderate condition. He said in a video clip from the hospital while receiving treatment: “While we were covering the Israeli army operation in Jenin camp, the soldiers shot at us suddenly without any warning. Shirin was hit by a bullet in the head and I was hit in the back. No Palestinian gunmen were in the area when the Israeli army shot us”.
The Palestinian Ministry of Health said that journalist “Abu Akleh ” was suffering from a critical injury from a bullet to the head, to announce shortly after that she died of her injury.
The International Observatory for Documentation of Human Rights Violations continued the Israeli army’s statement about the incident, as there is an attempt to obscure the truth, which stated that “the possibility of journalists being shot at by Palestinian gunmen is being investigated, based on a video published of indiscriminate shooting of Palestinian gunmen in outskirts of the said camp.
While the collected data and eyewitness testimonies confirm that there was no exchange of fire with Palestinian gunmen at the time the Israeli army snipers opened fire on journalists, in addition to an illustrative map distributed by the “Israeli Information Center for Human Rights” known as “B’Tselem“, which refutes the Israeli narrative. The far distance shows the location of the filming of the video, which was published by the Israeli authorities, and the location of the targeting of the journalist “Abu Akleh“.
Violence has escalated since Israeli Prime Minister “Naftali Bennett” took office on June 21, 2021, with the months of March and April seeing the largest number of Palestinians and Israelis killed outside the scope of armed hostilities in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories, in any given year. two months since 2008.
Between June 21, 2021 and May 11, 2022, Israeli forces killed at least 79 Palestinians, including 14 children, in the occupied Palestinian territories, according to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs and records of international rights organizations.
In March, Israeli forces killed 12 Palestinians, including three children, and another Palestinian was shot dead by an Israeli settler.
During April 2022, Israeli forces killed at least 22 Palestinians, including three children, according to “Amnesty International” ‘s records.
In addition, separate attacks by Palestinian militants have killed 18 people in cities across Israel since 22 March.
The alarming escalation in grave violations comes at a time when senior Israeli officials have threatened more violence against Palestinians.
Since the current escalation in violence, Israeli government officials, including Prime Minister “Naftali Bennett“, have repeatedly made statements inciting violence, encouraging the use of unlawful force, and ordering to shoot Palestinians who pose no imminent threat.
Other politicians have also publicly incited violence, this highlights the extent of the institutionalized discrimination practiced by Israel against the Palestinians.
While Palestinian authorities in the West Bank have condemned all Palestinian attacks on Israeli civilians, spokesmen for some Palestinian armed groups have encouraged such attacks.
The “Observatory” calls for the opening of an independent international investigation into the killing of journalist “Shirin Abu Akleh “, which leads to the accountability of those involved and an end to the systematic Israeli targeting of journalistic work and children in the Palestinian territories, knowing that the number of journalists and media professionals who were killed by the Israeli army’s bullets (47) Male and female journalist since the beginning of the year 2000.
The “Observatory” expresses its conviction that these heinous crimes would not have occurred without the persistence of the phenomenon of impunity for the perpetrators, which calls for the prosecution of the perpetrators of these heinous crimes and bringing them to justice to put an end to the continuing murders of journalists, media professionals, children and women in the Palestinian territories.
The “Observatory” confirms that attacks against civilians are horrific, and are truly condemned, by official spokesmen all over the world. Therefore, Israel (the de facto state) has the duty to protect everyone under its control and to value everyone’s lives on the equality principles, by addressing the root causes of violence, but the Israeli authorities have proven repeatedly that they do not care about international law, it is therefore the duty of states and governments around the world to take measures to ensure the protection of civilians and develop an internationally joint action plan to reduce hostilities and ensure that those involved in the crimes committed in ( Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories) from punishment.
International Observatory for Documentation of Human Rights Violations
/Media Section
Argentina – Buenos Aires
13/05/2022
Download the official report as a PDF here
(The International Observatory for Documenting Human Rights Violations), is an independent Argentine international center, registered in accordance with the laws of the Republic of Argentina, as a non-governmental, non-profit organization, working with the aim of defending human rights and documenting violations around the world. It was established on the tenth of December 2015, and obtained the license Official from the Argentine government in the year 2021. The members of the observatory cover their activities in 64 countries.
We are a team of people who are interested and believe in the protection of human rights, in all countries of the world, especially in countries where defenders are subjected to the most severe direct targeting campaigns.
