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The family of Shatha Al Sabbagh, a young Palestinian journalist who was shot in the head in Jenin refugee camp on Saturday, has held the Palestinian Authority and its security forces “unequivocally responsible” for her death.
The family lives in the camp, in the occupied West Bank, which has been under siege by Palestinian security forces since December 5. The Palestinian Authority says it is cracking down on “outlaws” in the camp who have outstanding warrants against them for murder, theft and destruction to civilian and military infrastructure.
The camp is a hotbed of militant activity by groups such as Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad and the Jenin Brigades. Ms Al Sabbagh's brother, Motasem, was a member of the latter group and was killed by Israeli forces in 2023.
Ms Al Sabbagh, 21, was studying journalism and reported on local issues in the camp and Palestinian politics. She was killed as she was leaving a shop with relatives on Saturday night.
Her brother Musab told The National she was targeted by security forces because of her reporting and that she had faced threats from them in recent days. Her last report, posted on Instagram on the day of her death, contained an interview with Jenin camp residents who claimed the Palestinian security forces had set their homes on fire.
“We hold the Palestinian Authority unequivocally responsible for killing Shatha,” her brother said. The security forces have denied the claim, instead blaming armed fighters for the killing.
Mr Al Sabbagh said the Al Mahyoub street where his sister was shot was “completely free” of militant activity at the time and was under the control of Palestinian security forces. “Palestinian security forces had taken over the house of martyr Yazid Al Ja'aysa right in front of our house, and another house nearby. They also had an armoured vehicle positioned down the road. There were no armed men other than them in the area, and no confrontations with them at all.”
Mr Al Sabbagh described his sister's last moments, as told to him by his mother. “Shatha, my mother, our neighbour and two little boys – Motasem and Liwa – were out buying groceries from the third floor of the building we're staying in at around 11pm on Saturday. They [security forces] had seen her enter but waited for her to leave before they hailed down bullets at her, including one that entered through her neck and exited through her head,” he said.
Ms Al Sabbagh was holding one year-old Motasem in her arms when she was shot. Safaa, her neighbour and relative, was standing on the step in front of her, when the shots were fired.
“We all dropped and laid flat on the ground. I was shouting: 'We have kids. Stop shooting!' But they kept going,” Safaa said. “After I had managed to get back inside, I had tried to pull Motasem towards me but they kept firing at us. Once I saw the pool of blood, I thought Motasem was killed. He was cold, covered in blood and he wasn't crying. Then I realised it wasn't him that was shot. It was Shatha.”
She said neighbours and relatives tried to help, but every time they approached, the shooting would intensify. “Eventually one of our neighbours, a trained EMT [emergency medical technician], put on her paramedic vest and tried to approach – so they could see that someone was wounded. They still kept shooting.”
Mahmoud Saadi, director of the Palestinian Red Crescent in Jenin, told The National that Ms Al Sabbagh had “died on the spot”. She was taken to a hospital nearby where she was pronounced dead.
A spokesman for Fatah, the ruling party in the Palestinian Authority, denied that the authorities were responsible for Ms Al Sabbagh's death, and said an investigation into the incident was under way. “There are conflicting and contradictory accounts, from the bereaved family, may God help them and grant them patience, or from the accused outlaws,” Abdulfattah Al Dawlah told The National.
The Palestinian Resistance Committee, a loose grouping of armed factions, issued a statement condemning the “assassination” by Palestinian security forces, and called for an independent investigation.
Mr Al Dawlah said the trajectory of the shot that killed Ms Al Sabbagh proved that it was not fired by a security forces sniper, as the family claimed.
“They claim that the shooting was intense towards Shatha and those with her, emanating from a high position where the security forces were stationed, while the forensic examination showed that the bullet hit Shatha from the bottom to the top, according to the entry and exit wounds,” he said. Contrary to the family's account, he said there were no Palestinian security personnel in the area at the time. “This refutes their claims,” he said.
The National asked the Palestinian security forces for comment but has not received a reply.
