ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Wednesday condemned Israel for shooting dead Al Jazeera reporter Shireen Abu Akleh as she covered an Israeli raid in the occupied West Bank.
Akleh, a well-known journalist, died soon after she was shot in Jenin town, the Palestinian health ministry said. Another Palestinian journalist working for the Jerusalem-based Al-Quds newspaper was also shot and wounded but in stable condition.
PM Sharif called out the “assassination” in a message posted on Twitter.
“Silencing voices of those who tell stories of oppressed people is part of a deliberate strategy employed by Israel,” he said.
Israel has carried out near-daily raids in the occupied West Bank in recent weeks amid a series of deadly attacks inside Israel.
Al Jazeera’s Nida Ibrahim said “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.”
“As you can imagine, this is a shock to the journalists who have been working with her,” Al Jazeera quoted Ibrahim as saying.
Ibrahim said Akleh had been working with Al Jazeera since 2000.
The incident has drawn widespread condemnation for the Israeli military which has said it was investigating the event.
