Palestinian journalist shot dead in Jenin; family blames PA, which blames ‘outlaws’
Death of Shatha al-Sabbagh comes as PA security services clash with terror operatives in West Bank city; family says shooting happened with no fighting nearby
A Palestinian journalist was shot dead overnight at the Jenin refugee camp in the West Bank, with her family on Sunday accusing the Palestinian Authority’s security forces of killing her while she was with her mother and two small children.
Shatha al-Sabbagh, a journalism student and independent reporter in her early 20s, was killed by a bullet to the head, which her family said was fired by a security forces sniper while there was no fighting going on in the vicinity.
The security forces of the PA, however, blamed local Palestinian terror group fighters, saying she was shot during nighttime clashes at the camp.
PA security forces have been carrying out an operation against terror groups in the northern West Bank city of Jenin, killing and detaining members of Hamas and Islamic Jihad, seizing weapons, and neutralizing explosive devices.
The crackdown came after terror operatives stole two PA vehicles and paraded them through Jenin earlier this month.
The Palestinian Authority security forces said in a statement Sunday that the “heinous crime was committed by outlaws inside the Jenin camp.”
But her family insisted that the PA security forces were responsible.
She was killed by “a sniper’s bullet from the security forces of the Palestinian Authority in a heinous crime,” the family said in a statement released on Sunday. “As the family of martyr Shatha al-Sabbagh, we hold the Palestinian Authority and its security forces directly responsible for this crime.”
Describing the incident, the family said she was with her mother when she was shot in a neighborhood that was “fully lit… and there were no clashes” at the time.
“Despite this, the snipers of the security forces shot her directly,” the statement said.
Gaza-based Palestinian terror group Hamas, which also maintains a presence in the West Bank, also accused the PA forces of killing her.
“The coldblooded and deliberate killing of journalist Shatha… is a criminal act that adds to the dark record of these security apparatuses, which have committed crimes of killing, arresting and mistreating our people,” said Hamas, which itself has widely been involved over the years in abuse and persecution against critics in Gaza, as well as countless terror attacks and atrocities against Israelis, including during its October 7, 2023, invasion and massacre.
From the site of the tragic death of Palestinian journalist Shatha Al-Sabbagh, who was fatally shot and killed by a PA forces sniper’s bullet in Jenin camp, the occupied West Bank. pic.twitter.com/yLM3Z2mo2E
— Quds News Network (@QudsNen) December 28, 2024
The Palestinian Journalists Syndicate called for an independent investigation to uncover the circumstances of Sabbagh’s death.
Her death brings to 11 the total number of deaths since the clashes began on December 5.
The PA has a relatively strong presence in southern and central West Bank cities, where it has managed to maintain public order. But in the northern part of the territory, especially the refugee camps in the Jenin, Nablus and Tulkarem areas, the PA has struggled to exercise authority against the terror groups there.
As the PA faces a legitimacy crisis over its failure to deliver Palestinian statehood or even hold elections, its popularity has waned significantly, particularly in the northern West Bank where rivals have taken up weapons and challenged its authority.
Rival factions of PA President Mahmoud Abbas’s Fatah party have condemned the recent arrests, accusing the security forces of collaborating with Israel.
