ISRAELI forces were blamed for the killing of a renowned Palestinian journalist in the occupied West Bank today.

Shireen Abu Akleh, 51, a journalist for the Qatar-based news agency Al Jazeera, was shot in the head this morning, despite wearing a press flak jacket and helmet, while attempting to cover an Israeli raid on a refugee camp in Jenin with other journalists.

Al Jazeera said in a statement today that it held “the Israeli government and the occupation forces responsible for the killing of [our] late colleague Shireen.”

The Palestinian Journalists Syndicate described the killing as “a clear assassination perpetrated by the Israeli occupation army.”

The union said: “There are a few testimonies from the journalists who were with her when she was killed, saying that they were moving as a group, all wearing journalists’ gear and clearly identified when they were shot at by Israeli snipers.”

International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) general secretary Anthony Bellanger said journalist eyewitness testimonies to the killing point towards this being another deliberate targeting of a journalist.

“Yet again journalists, wearing press vests, clearly identified were targeted by Israeli snipers,” Mr Bellanger said.

“They were not alongside demonstrators, they were not a threat. They have been targeted to prevent them bearing witness and telling the truth about the Israeli action in Jenin.

“If we demand justice for the Russian targeting of Ukrainian journalists, we must demand an end to, and justice for, Israeli targeting and killings of Palestinian journalists.”

Mr Bellanger said that the IFJ will add Ms Abu Akleh’s case to the complaint the organisation has submitted to the International Criminal Court, detailing Israel’s systematic targeting of journalists.

The UK-based human rights organisation Friends of al-Aqsa (FOA) said: “Since 2000, Israeli occupation forces have murdered at least 46 Palestinian journalists.

“This targeting of journalists by Israel is disgraceful. FOA calls for immediate sanctions on Israel for its continuous war crimes."

An Israeli army official confirmed that its soldiers had conducted a raid early today in Jenin, but said, “the (army) of course does not aim at journalists.”

The Palestinian Authority (PA) rejected today the Israeli government’s offer of a joint investigation into Ms Abu Akleh’s death.

PA spokesman Ibrahim Milhim told Al Jazeera: “Let me ask, when does the criminal have the right to take part in the investigation against his victim?

“We reject and refuse the participation of any Israelis in this kind of investigation. They have to be taken to the international court.”