Israeli forces shot dead a Palestinian female journalist in Jenin

Israeli forces have shot dead Al Jazeera’s journalist Shireen Abu Akleh in the occupied West Bank, according to the Palestinian health ministry.

She was hit by a live bullet on Wednesday while covering Israeli raids in the city of Jenin and was rushed to the hospital in critical condition, according to the ministry and Al Jazeera journalists. Abu Akleh was wearing a press vest when she was killed.

She was declared dead at the hospital, the ministry said.

The circumstances of her death were not clear, but videos of the incident show that Abu Akleh was shot in the head, said Al Jazeera’s Nida Ibrahim.

“What we know for now is that the Palestinian Health Ministry has announced her death. Shireen Abu Akleh, was covering the events unfolding in Jenin, specifically an Israeli raid the city, which is north of the occupied West Bank, when she was hit by a bullet to the head,” Ibrahim said, speaking from the Palestinian city of Ramallah.

Another journalist named Ali Asmoadi, who works for the Jerusalem-based Al-Quds newspaper, was also wounded by a gun shot and is in a stable condition.

Middle East Eye reporter Shatha Hanaysha said she and a group of six journalists, including Abu Akleh, were together when they came under fire from Israeli snipers.

The group of journalists, there to cover the raid, came under fire at the main entrance to Jenin refugee camp, near the main roundabout.

There was a gunfight in the alleyways of the camp, but this area is far from the roundabout - fighters don't go there because there is no cover - and far from the house of the person Israeli forces wanted to arrest.

Al Jazeera said multiple eyewitnesses confirmed Abu Akleh was shot shortly after arriving in Jenin refugee camp and that there had been no fighting in the area. 

Al Jazeera Media Network condemned the "blatant murder" of Abu Akleh, calling it a "heinous crime, through which it is intended to prevent the media from fulfilling its message".

"We hold the Israeli government and the occupation forces responsible for the killing of the late colleague Shireen," Al Jazeera said in a statement, urging the international community to hold the Israeli occupation forces accountable for their "intentional targeting and killing" of Abu Akleh.