The Israeli army said Monday there was a “high possibility” that a soldier killed a well-known Al Jazeera journalist in the West Bank last May, as it announced the results of its investigation into the incident. In a briefing to reporters, a senior military official said a soldier opened fire after mistakenly identifying Shireen Abu Akleh as a terrorist. He said no one would be punished. The conclusions were the closest Israel has come to taking responsibility for her death and followed a series of investigations by media organizations and the United States that concluded Israel either fired, or most likely had fired, the deadly shot. But they were unlikely to put the matter to rest. “He misidentified her,” the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity under military briefing guidelines. “His reports in real time…absolutely point to a misidentification.” Abu Akleh was wearing a helmet and a vest identifying her as press when she was killed in May while covering Israeli military raids in the occupied West Bank. The 51-year-old Palestinian-American had covered the West Bank for two decades and was a well-known face across the Arab world. The Palestinians, and Abu Akleh’s family, have accused Israel of intentionally killing her, and her death remains a major point of contention between the sides. Israel has said she was killed during a complex battle with Palestinian terrorists and that only a forensic analysis of the bullet could confirm whether it was fired by an Israeli soldier or a Palestinian terrorist. However, a U.S.-led analysis of the bullet last July was inconclusive as investigators said the bullet had been badly damaged. (AP)

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