Al Jazeera Journalist Is Killed During Clashes in West Bank

JERUSALEM — A journalist for Al Jazeera was fatally shot in the West Bank city of Jenin early Wednesday during clashes between Israeli military forces and Palestinian gunmen, the news organization and the Palestinian health minister said.

The circumstances surrounding the shooting of the journalist, Shireen Abu Akleh, were not immediately clear. Al Jazeera said she had been hit in the head by a bullet from Israeli forces. The Israeli military said on Twitter that it was investigating the possibility that journalists had been injured “possibly by Palestinian armed gunfire.”

Ms. Abu Akleh, 51, a veteran journalist, was wearing aprotective vest that identified her as a member of the news media, Al Jazeera reported.

Another journalist, Ali al-Samodi, who was also wearing a protective vest, was injured by a bullet in the back, according to the official Palestinian news agency, which cited the health ministry. His condition was not immediately clear.

In the wake of a series of attacks by Palestinians in Israel, the Israeli military has been carrying out regular military raids into the Palestinian city of Jenin in the occupied West Bank since early April.

The Israeli military said on Twitter that its forces had been in Jenin to arrest suspects and came under fire first.