Shireen Abu Akleh

Palestinian-American Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh was fatally shot while covering an Israeli military operation in the West Bank city of Jenin on Wednesday.

The Palestinian health ministry said she was shot in the head by a live bullet, and confirmed her death shortly afterwards. Abu Akleh’s producer, Ali Al-Samudi, was also shot and is in stable condition, the ministry said.

Al Jazeera has accused Israeli security forces of deliberately targeting and killing Abu Akleh, 51 – one of the Arab world’s most prominent journalists – and called on the international community to condemn the killing and hold Israel accountable.

The circumstances surrounding her death are unclear. Three eyewitnesses told CNN that the journalists were shot by Israeli troops and that there were no Palestinian militants next to the journalists at the time.

“The Israeli army shot us,” said Samudi, the producer who was shot and injured. “There was no Palestinian gunman in the place.”

The Israel Defense Forces said its security forces had been operating in the area “to arrest suspects in terrorist activities,” and both Palestinian suspects and Israeli forces were firing at the time.

“As part of the activity in the Jenin refugee camp, suspects fired heavily at the force and threw explosives. The force responded by firing. Hits were detected,” the IDF said. “The possibility that journalists were hit, possibly by Palestinian gunfire, is being investigated. The event is being examined.”