UPDATE – Qatar decries killing of Al Jazeera journalist in West Bank

UPDATES WITH FOREIGN MINISTRY’S STATEMENT,; CHANGES DECK, LEDE

By Mahmoud Barakat

ANKARA (AA) – Qatar on Wednesday condemned the killing of a veteran Al Jazeera journalist during an Israeli army raid in the occupied West Bank.

Wearing a vest marking her as a journalist, Al Jazeera reporter Shireen Abu Akleh, 51, was shot dead in the head by Israeli forces while covering an Israeli raid in the city of Jenin, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry.

Her colleague Ali Al-Samoudi was shot in the back and is now in stable condition, the ministry added.

“Israeli occupation killed Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh by shooting her in the face while wearing the press vest and a helmet,” Assistant Foreign Minister and spokesperson Lolwah Alkhater tweeted in English.

Alkhater pointed out that when she was killed, Abu Akleh was covering an Israeli attack on the Jenin refugee camp.

“This state sponsored Israeli terrorism must STOP, unconditional support to Israel must END,” she added.

The Qatari Foreign Ministry blasted the killing as a “heinous crime,” a “flagrant violation of international law,” and a “blatant attack on media freedom.”

In a statement, the ministry called for “urgent action to prevent occupation authorities from committing further violations of the freedom of expression and to take all measures to stop violence against Palestinians and media workers.”

Earlier Wednesday, Doha-based Al Jazeera accused Israel of deliberately assassinating its reporter “in cold blood.”

It called 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 earned a BA in journalism and media from Yarmouk University in Jordan.