Israeli army says soldier likely killed Al-Jazeera reporter Shireen Abu Akleh
- Military said the journalist was probably killed by a soldier, by mistake
- Senior official said military’s top legal officer will not launch criminal probe, meaning soldier and chain of command will not face punishment
The Israeli army said Monday there was a “high possibility” that a soldier killed a well-known Al Jazeera journalist in May.
A senior military official said the military’s top legal officer will not be launching a criminal probe into the incident, meaning neither the soldier nor anyone in his chain of command will face punishment.
Abu Akleh, a Palestinian-American journalist, had covered the West Bank for the satellite channel for two decades and was well known across the Arab world.
In a briefing to reporters, the official said the military could not conclusively determine where the fire emanated from, saying there may have been Palestinian gunmen in the same area as the Israeli soldier.
But he said the soldier killed the journalist “with very high likelihood” and did so by mistake. The official did not explain why witness accounts and videos showed limited militant activity in the area, as well as no gunfire in the vicinity until the barrage that struck Abu Akleh and wounded another reporter.