By: Zahid Jadwat

Nearly a week after the violent killing of veteran Al-Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu-Akleh in an Israeli raid on Jenin, West Bank, experts warn more Palestinian journalists may be targeted by Israel.

“This has been an Israeli policy of targeting Palestinian journalists… unfortunately, Shireen will most likely not be the last Palestinian journalist to be killed by Israel. Since 2002, there were almost 50 Palestinian journalists who were shot and killed by Israel,” said a researcher in Middle Eastern Studies, Yousef Aljamal, in an interview on Radio Islam.

The 51-year-old Palestinian-American TV correspondent for Al Jazeera Arabic was wearing a protective vest clearly marked with “PRESS” when members of the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) fatally shot her in Jenin on Wednesday (May 11). The killing sparked outrage across the world as Israeli authorities attempted to place the blame on Palestinian militants.

During the occupation authorities’ most recent assault on Gaza in May 2021, an Israeli air raid killed Yusef Abu Hussein. He was a broadcaster for the local Voice of Al-Aqsa radio station.

Aljamal said Palestinian journalists remain a target. Israel “has seen her [Abu Akleh] and her coverage as a threat to their propaganda She kept reporting until the last minute of her life”.

According to the Doha-based news network Al Jazeera, Abu Akleh was working on a report that uncovered the events of the Palestinian Nakba of 1948.

“That’s why Israeli snipers decided to end her life, thinking that by doing so her coverage but she left a huge legacy and we’ve seen how Palestinians across the West Bank and Jerusalem took part in her funeral,” he said.

Listen to the full interview here: