Palestinian president offers condolences on journalist’s death

By Qais Abu Samra

RAMALLAH, Palestine (AA) – Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Wednesday offered condolences to the family of Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh, who was killed during an Israeli raid in the occupied West Bank.

Abu Akleh, 51, was shot dead while covering the Israeli raid in the city of Jenin Wednesday morning. Another journalist, Ali Al-Samoudi, was shot in the back, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry.

Abbas made a phone call with Walid al-Omari, the head of Al Jazeera office in the West Bank, to express his "sincere condolences to the family of Abu Akleh, her colleagues and journalists," the state news agency Wafa reported.

Abbas earlier condemned Abu Akleh's killing, saying it was an “assassination" by Israeli forces and held Israel fully responsible for her death.

On Wednesday, the Doha-based Al Jazeera channel accused Israeli forces of deliberately assassinating its reporter “in cold blood.” It termed the killing a “heinous crime, which intends to only prevent the media from conducting their duty.”

Abu Akleh was born in Jerusalem in 1971 and holds a BA in journalism and media from Yarmouk University in Jordan.

*Writing by Bassel Barakat