UPDATES WITH MORE DETAILS, ADDS BACKGROUND, CHANGES HEADLINE
By Abdelraouf Arnaout
JERUSALEM (AA) - The Israeli army on Monday suggested that veteran Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh was likely killed by "wrong" gunfire from an Israeli soldier.
In a statement, it said that after a series of investigations conducted by a specialized professional team, it had not been possible to determine for sure who was responsible for Abu Akleh's killing.
However, it noted a "high possibility" that she was killed by "wrong fire" from soldiers shooting at Palestinian gunmen during clashes.
The army went on to say that the possibility of Abu Akleh being killed by a Palestinian gunmen remained on the table.
"[I]t appears that it is not possible to unequivocally determine the source of the gunfire which hit and killed Ms. Abu Akleh. However, there is a high possibility that Ms. Abu Akleh was accidentally hit by IDF gunfire fired toward suspects identified as armed Palestinian gunmen during an exchange of fire," the army said in a statement.
The army claimed that Israeli forces came under heavy and indiscriminate fire from Palestinian gunmen that endangered the lives of the soldiers.
Abu Akleh was killed on May 11, and the Palestinian Health Ministry said she was shot in the head while covering an Israeli military raid in the West Bank city of Jenin.
Several leading media agencies, including Al Jazeera, CNN, Associated Press, Washington Post, and the New York Times, conducted their own investigations, all concluding that Abu Akleh was killed by an Israeli bullet.
Israeli assaults against Palestinian journalists have escalated in recent months.
According to the Palestinian Center for Freedoms and Development (MADA), 368 incidents were documented against Palestinian journalists last year, with 155 direct violations that resulted either in injury or death.
Last month, three Palestinian journalists were killed during an Israeli military offensive on the Gaza Strip, with 33 media headquarters struck in Israeli airstrikes.
More than 100 Israeli assaults were documented against journalists since the beginning of 2022, according to Palestinian figures.
*Writing by Mahmoud Barakat