JERUSALEM – May 20 (ONLINE) A new video that begins moments before Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh was killed has emerged showing relative calm and quiet, contrary to claims by Israeli officials that fighting was taking place in the area.
Abu Akleh, 51, was killed by an Israeli soldier on May 11, according to colleagues and witnesses who were present at the scene, while covering a military raid by Israeli forces in the occupied West Bank city of Jenin.
The clip, which was verified by Al Jazeera, shows initial quiet with no sounds of fighting, corroborating witness reports that there were no clashes between Israeli forces and Palestinian fighters at the time of the shooting, as the Israelis have suggested.
Some people are seen to be talking and laughing in the foreground, with people in the background, including Abu Akleh and some of her colleagues wearing blue press flak jackets, also visible.
Abu Akleh and the other journalists are walking in the direction of where Israeli forces were located, before gunfire shots start ringing out.
Once the shooting starts, people in the foreground start running away from where the Israeli forces were positioned. Abu Akleh can be seen lying in the street after being shot.
A Palestinian American citizen, Abu Akleh’s killing by Israeli forces has led to global outrage and widespread calls for an independent investigation.
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