Palestinian journalist Shirin Abu Aqla, who worked for Al Jazeera, was shot dead on April 11, 2022, in the Jenin refugee camp. A final IDF investigation determined that she was most likely killed by an IDF soldier who mistakenly believed she was an armed Palestinian terrorist.
A year after her death, on May 11, 2023, IDF spokesman Daniel Hagari officially apologized on behalf of the IDF for her death.
Abu Aqla was an American citizen, and following her death, her family, senators and members of the House of Representatives from the Democratic Party, began to exert heavy pressure on Israel to investigate the affair and prosecute those responsible for her death. US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken has called on Israel to review the IDF's open-fire regulations in Judea and Samaria.
Abu Aqla's death sparked widespread media coverage around the world, with the IDF and Israel accused of deliberately targeting foreign journalists and press freedom. Her funeral in East Jerusalem received extensive international coverage. Al Jazeera even filed a lawsuit against Israel at the International Criminal Court in The Hague over the circumstances of her death.
