RAMALLAH, West Bank: The Palestinian Authority on Thursday announced the results of its investigation into the shooting death of Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh, saying it had proven she was deliberately killed by Israeli forces as she tried to flee.
The findings echoed the results of a preliminary investigation announced nearly two weeks ago and were widely expected. Israel is likely to reject the report as biased and unfounded.
Abu Akleh, a veteran Palestinian-American reporter for Al Jazeera’s Arabic service, was shot in the head on May 11 during an Israeli military raid in the city of Jenin in the occupied West Bank.
Witnesses and Palestinian officials have said she was hit by Israeli fire. Israel says she was shot during a battle between Israeli soldiers and Palestinian militants. It says that only a ballistic analysis of the bullet — which is held by the Palestinian Authority — and the soldiers’ guns can determine who fired the fatal shot.
Announcing the results of his probe at a news conference in the West Bank city of Ramallah,, Palestinian Attorney General Akram Al Khateeb said he had determined there were no militants in the immediate area where Abu Akleh was located.
“The only shooting was by the occupation forces, with the aim of killing,” he said.
Abu Akleh was in a group of journalists wearing helmets and protective vests marked “press.” He said the army saw the journalists and knew they were journalists.
He accused Israel of shooting her “directly and deliberately” as she tried to escape. He also repeated the Palestinian position that the bullet will not be handed over to the Israelis for study. He said they decided not even to show images of the bullet “to deprive them of a new lie.”
Al Khateeb said his investigation was based on interviews with witnesses, an inspection of the scene and a forensic medical report.
There was no immediate response from Israel.
Israel denies targeting journalists and has offered two possible scenarios, saying she was either shot by Palestinian militants who were firing recklessly at an Israeli army convoy or that she was hit by Israeli gunfire aimed at a nearby militant. The military has identified the rifle that may have been used in that scenario, but says it needs to test the bullet to make any final determination.
An AP reconstruction of events has lent support to eyewitnesses who say she was shot by Israeli troops. But the reconstruction said it was impossible to reach a conclusive finding without further forensic analysis.
Palestinian witnesses say there were no militants or clashes anywhere near her. The only known militants in the area were on the other side of the convoy, some 300 meters (yards) from her position. They did not have a direct line of sight, unlike the convoy itself, which was some 200 (meters) away on a long straight road.
Israel has publicly called for a joint investigation with the PA, with US participation, and has asked the PA to hand over the bullet for testing. But the State Department said Wednesday that it had received no formal request for assistance from either side two weeks after her death.
The PA has refused to hand over the bullet to Israel or cooperate with it in any way, saying Israel cannot be trusted to investigate its own conduct. Rights groups say Israel has a poor record of investigating when security forces shoot Palestinians, with cases often languishing for months or years before being quietly closed.
The PA administers parts of the Israeli-occupied West Bank. Hussein Al Sheikh, a top Palestinian official, said Thursday’s report would be shared with the US administration. Copies will also be delivered to her family and to Al Jazeera, he said.
The Palestinians say they will share their results with international parties, including the International Criminal Court, which launched an investigation into possible Israeli war crimes last year. Israel has rejected that probe as being biased against it and is not cooperating with it.
The severe distrust means the Israeli and Palestinian investigations into Abu Akleh’s death are unfolding separately, with neither likely to accept any conclusions reached by the other.
Each side is in sole possession of potentially crucial evidence. Ballistic analysis could match the bullet to a specific firearm based on a microscopic signature, but only if investigators have access to both. Lt. Col. Amnon Shefler, a military spokesman, told the AP the military has additional footage from that day, but declined to say what it shows or when it would be released, citing the ongoing investigation.
Palestinians are still mourning Abu Akleh, a widely known and respected on-air correspondent who rose to fame two decades ago, during the second Palestinian intifada, or uprising, against Israeli rule. The 51-year-old documented the harsh realities of life under Israeli military rule — now well into its sixth decade with no end in sight — for viewers across the Arab world.
Jenin has long been a bastion of Palestinian militants, and several recent attacks inside Israel have been carried out by young men from in and around the town. Israel has continued to carry out near-daily raids in Jenin since Abu Akleh’s death, which it says are aimed at preventing more.
Israel captured the West Bank in the 1967 war and has built settlements where nearly 500,000 Israelis live alongside nearly 3 million Palestinians. The Palestinians want the territory to form the main part of their future state, but peace talks broke down more than a decade ago, and Israel’s dominant right-wing parties are opposed to Palestinian statehood.
The PA itself is seen by many Palestinians as a corrupt and authoritarian body that aids the occupation by coordinating with Israel on security matters. Any cooperation with Israel on the Abu Akleh investigation would likely spark a popular backlash among Palestinians, who view her as a martyr to both journalism and their national cause.
Palestinians: Israel deliberately killed Al Jazeera reporter
https://arab.news/rprue
Palestinians: Israel deliberately killed Al Jazeera reporter
- The findings echoed the results of a preliminary investigation announced nearly two weeks ago and were widely expected
- Witnesses and Palestinian officials have said she was hit by Israeli fire
A look back at how Arab News marked its 50th anniversary
- In a year crowded with news, the paper still managed to innovate and leverage AI to become available in 50 languages
- Golden Jubilee Gala, held at the Diplomatic Quarter in Riyadh, now available to watch on YouTube
RIYADH: In 2025, the global news agenda was crowded with headlines concerning wars, elections and rapid technological change.
Inside the newsroom of Arab News, the year carried additional weight: Saudi Arabia’s first English-language daily marked its 50th anniversary.
And with an industry going through turmoil worldwide, the challenge inside the newsroom was how to turn a midlife crisis into a midlife opportunity.
For the newspaper’s team members, the milestone was less about nostalgia than about ensuring the publication could thrive in a rapidly changing and evolving media landscape.
“We did not want just to celebrate our past,” said Faisal J. Abbas, editor-in-chief of Arab News. “But more importantly, we were constantly thinking of how we can keep Arab News relevant for the next five decades.”
The solution, he added, came down to two words: “Artificial intelligence.”
For the Arab News newsroom, AI was not a replacement for journalism but as a tool to extend it.
“It was like having three eyes at once: one on the past, one on the present, and one on the future,” said Noor Nugali, the newspaper’s deputy editor-in-chief.
One of the first initiatives was the 50th anniversary commemorative edition, designed as a compact historical record of the region told through Arab News’ own reporting.
“It was meant to be like a mini history book, telling the history of the region using Arab News’ archive with a story from each year,” said Siraj Wahab, acting executive editor of the newspaper.
The issue, he added, traced events ranging from the outbreak of the Lebanese civil war in 1975 to the swearing-in of Donald Trump, while also paying homage to former editors-in-chief who shaped the newspaper’s direction over five decades.
The anniversary edition, however, was only one part of a broader strategy to signal Arab News’ focus on the future.
To that end, the paper partnered with Google to launch the region’s first AI-produced podcast using NotebookLM, an experimental tool that synthesizes reporting and archival material into audio storytelling.
The project marked a regional first in newsroom-led AI audio production.
The podcast was unveiled during a special 50th anniversary ceremony in mid-November, held on the sidelines of the Arab Media Forum, hosted by the Dubai Future Foundation. The event in the UAE’s commercial hub drew regional media leaders and officials.
Remarks at the event highlighted the project as an example of innovation in legacy media, positioning Arab News as a case study in digital reinvention rather than preservation alone.
“This is a great initiative, and I’m happy that it came from Arab News as a leading media platform, and I hope to see more such initiatives in the Arab world especially,” said Mona Al-Marri, director-general of the Government of Dubai Media Office, on the sidelines of the event.
“AI is the future, and no one should deny this. It will take over so many sectors. We have to be ready for it and be part of it and be ahead of anyone else in this interesting field.”
Behind the scenes, another long-form project was taking shape: a documentary chronicling Arab News’ origins and its transformation into a global, digital-first newsroom.
“While all this was happening, we were also working in-house on a documentary telling the origin story of Arab News and how it transformed under the current editor into a more global, more digital operation,” said Nugali.
The result was “Rewriting Arab News,” a documentary examining the paper’s digital transformation and its navigation of Saudi Arabia’s reforms between 2016 and 2018. The film charted editorial shifts, newsroom restructuring and the challenges of reporting during a period of rapid national change.
The documentary was screened at the Frontline Club in London, the European Union Embassy, Westminster University, and the World Media Congress in Bahrain. It later became available on the streaming platform Shahid and onboard Saudi Arabian Airlines.
It was also nominated for an Association for International Broadcasting award.
In early July, a special screening of the documentary took place at the EU Embassy in Riyadh. During the event, EU Ambassador to Saudi Arabia Christophe Farnaud described the film as an “embodiment” of the “incredible changes” that the Kingdom is undergoing.
“I particularly appreciate … the historical dimension, when (Arab News) was created in 1975 — that was also a project corresponding to the new role of the Kingdom,” Farnaud said. “Now the Kingdom has entered a new phase, a spectacular phase of transformation.”
Part of the documentary is narrated by Prince Turki Al-Faisal, the former Saudi ambassador to the US, who in the film delves into the paper’s origins.
The grand slam of the anniversary year was the Golden Jubilee of Arab News gala, held in late September in Riyadh’s Diplomatic Quarter.
Hosted by the Dean of Diplomatic Corps in Saudi Arabia and Ambassador of Djibouti to Riyadh Dya-Eddine Said Bamakhrama, the evening featured a keynote address by Prince Turki, who spoke about Arab News’ founding under his father, the late King Faisal, and its original mission to present the Kingdom to the English-speaking world.
Arab News was established in Jeddah in 1975 by brothers Hisham and Mohammed Ali Hafiz under the slogan to give Arabs a voice in English while documenting the major transformations taking place across the Middle East.
The two founders were honored with a special trophy presented by Prince Turki, Assistant Media Minister Abdullah Maghlouth, Editor-in-Chief Abbas, and family member and renowned columnist Talat Hafiz on behalf of the founders.
During the gala, Abbas announced Arab News’ most ambitious expansion yet: the launch of the publication in 50 languages, unveiled later at the World Media Congress in Madrid in cooperation with Camb.AI.
The Madrid launch in October underscored Arab News’ aim to reposition itself not simply as a regional paper, but as a global platform for Saudi and Middle Eastern perspectives.
The event was attended by Princess Haifa bint Abdulaziz Al-Mogrin, the Saudi ambassador to Spain; Arab and Spanish diplomats; and senior editors and executives.
As the anniversary year concluded, Arab News released the full video of the Golden Jubilee Gala to the public for the first time, making the event accessible beyond the room in which it was held.
For a newspaper founded in an era of typewriters and wire copy, the message of its 50th year was clear: longevity alone is not enough. Relevance, the newsroom concluded, now depends on how well journalism adapts without losing sight of its past.
