The Israel Defense Forces and the Israeli military have apologized for the first time in a year since Shireen Abu Akleh, an Al Jazeera journalist, died tragically.
One year has passed since journalist Akleh was fatally shot while documenting an Israeli military operation in Jenin, in the occupied West Bank, with fellow reporter Ali Al Samudi, who was also shot.
Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari, the IDF’s senior spokesperson, told CNN, “I think it’s an opportunity for me to say here that we are very sorry for the death of Shireen Abu Akleh.”
After acknowledging last year that there was a “high possibility” that the renowned journalist was shot by an Israeli soldier, this apology will be the first time the IDF has expressed regret for her death.
“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.
Days before to the apology, The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) released a study claiming that the Israeli military had not been held accountable for the deaths of at least 20 journalists over the previous two decades.
The press advocacy group claims that since 2001, Israeli military fire has killed at least 20 journalists, 18 of whom were Palestinian. The news statement said that “no one has ever been charged or held accountable for these deaths.”
Israel’s Military Advocate General’s Office said in a statement that it did not intend to pursue criminal charges or prosecutions of any of the soldiers involved after the Israeli government acknowledged for the first time last September that there was a “high possibility” that Abu Akleh was “accidentally” shot and killed by Israeli fire.
Earlier this month, in response to the CPJ report, the IDF stated that it “regrets any harm to civilians during operational activity and considers the protection of the freedom of the press and the professional work of journalists to be of great importance.”
The statement from the IDF read, “The IDF does not deliberately target noncombatants, and live fire in combat is only used after all other options have been exhausted.”
