For the first time, Israel’s military, the Israel Defense Forces, apologized for the killing of Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh.
Their apologies came a year after she was killed while covering an Israeli military operation in Jenin, West Bank.
On May 11, 2022, the journalist was cruelly gunned down, along with another journalist, Ali Al Samudi, who was present with Akleh.
“I think it’s an opportunity for me to say here that we are very sorry for the death of Shireen Abu Akleh,” IDF’s chief spokesman, Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said to CNN.
It is the first time the IDF has apologized for the killing of the well-known correspondent, after conceding last year that there was a “high possibility” she was shot by an Israeli soldier.
“She was a journalist, a very established journalist. In Israel, we value our democracy and in a democracy, we see high value in journalism and in a free press. We want journalists to feel safe in Israel, especially in wartime, even if they criticize us,” said Hagari.
The apology comes just days after The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) released a study claiming that the Israeli military had taken no accountability for the deaths of at least 20 journalists over the past two decades.
According to the press advocacy organisation, at least 20 journalists have been murdered by Israeli military fire since 2001, with 18 of those slain being Palestinians. “No one has ever been charged or held accountable for these deaths,” the announcement stated.
While the IDF admitted for the first time last September that there was a “high possibility” Abu Akleh was “accidentally” shot and killed by Israeli fire, the IDF’s Military Advocate General’s Office stated in a statement that it did not intend to pursue criminal charges or prosecutions against any of the soldiers involved.
In response to the CPJ report earlier this month, the IDF stated that it “regrets any harm to civilians during operational activity and considers the protection of press freedom and the professional work of journalists to be of great importance.”
“The IDF does not intentionally target noncombatants, and live fire in combat is used only after all other options have been exhausted,” it said in the statement