Al Jazeera reporter killed 'in cold blood' by Israel forces in West Bank

An Al Jazeera reporter was killed by Israeli army gunfire in the occupied West Bank on Wednesday, the Qatar-based news channel said.

One Palestinian official said Shireen Abu Akleh had been "assassinated" by Israeli forces while reporting on a raid in the city of Jenin, which has seen intensified army raids in recent weeks as violence has surged.

It said Shireen Abu Akleh, a well-known Palestinian female reporter for the broadcaster's Arabic language channel, was shot and died soon afterward. Another Palestinian journalist working for the Jerusalem-based Al-Quds newspaper was wounded but in stable condition.

The health ministry said the reporters were hit by Israeli fire. In video footage of the incident, Abu Akleh can be seen wearing a blue flak jacket clearly marked with the word "PRESS."

In a separate statement, Al Jazeera Network said Israeli forces killed Al Jazeera reporter Shireen Abu Aqleh "in cold blood" while she was working in the Palestinian territories.

"In a blatant murder, violating international laws and norms, the Israeli occupation forces assassinated in cold blood Al Jazeera's correspondent in Palestine," the statement said, calling on the international community to hold the Israeli occupation forces accountable for their "intentional targeting and killing" of the journalist.

Earlier Wednesday, Israeli forces raided the city of Jenin to arrest a Palestinian, triggering clashes with angry residents.

The Israeli army said in a statement that it was "investigating the incident."

A military statement said army forces, in cooperation with the Shin Bet internal security service and the border guards, worked "in the last hours in the Jenin refugee camp and near the village of Burqin, and in several other areas of the West Bank to arrest wanted persons."

Tensions have risen in recent months as Israel has grappled with a wave of attacks which killed at least 18 people since March 22, including an Arab-Israeli police officer and two Ukrainians.

The Israeli army has blamed some of the attacks on residents of Jenin and has stepped up operations in the area in recent weeks.

A total of 30 Palestinians and three Israeli Arabs have died during the same period, according to an AFP tally, among them perpetrators of attacks and those killed by Israeli security forces in West Bank operations.

Israel captured the West Bank in the 1967 Mideast war, and the Palestinians want the territory to form the main part of their future state. Nearly 3 million Palestinians live in the territory under Israeli military rule. Israel has built more than 130 settlements across the West Bank that are home to nearly 500,000 Jewish settlers, who have full Israeli citizenship.

Israelis have long been critical of Al-Jazeera's coverage, but authorities generally allow its journalists to operate freely. Another Al-Jazeera reporter, Givara Budeiri, was briefly detained last year during a protest in Jerusalem and treated for a broken hand, which her employer blamed on rough treatment by police.

Relations between Israeli forces and the media, especially Palestinian journalists, is strained. A number of Palestinian reporters have been wounded by rubber-coated bullets or tear gas while covering demonstrations in the West Bank. A Palestinian journalist in Gaza was shot and killed by Israeli forces while filming violent protests along the Gaza frontier in 2018.

In November of that year, Associated Press reporter Rashed Rashid was covering a protest near the Gaza frontier when he was shot in the left ankle, apparently by Israeli fire. Rashid was wearing protective gear that clearly identified him as a journalist, and was standing with a crowd of other journalists some 600 meters (660 yards) away from the Israeli border when he was hit. The military has never acknowledged the shooting.

During last year's war between Israel and Gaza's Hamas rulers, an Israeli airstrike destroyed the building in Gaza City housing the offices of The Associated Press and Al-Jazeera. Residents were warned to evacuate and no one was hurt in the strike. Israel said Hamas was using the building as a command center but has provided no evidence.