Sharjah24 - Reuters: Israeli investigations into the killing of Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh in May concluded that she was likely to have been unintentionally shot by an Israeli soldier but was not deliberately targeted, the military said on Monday.

Abu Akleh, a U.S.-Palestinian citizen, was shot dead on May 11 while covering an Israeli military operation in the volatile town of Jenin in the occupied West Bank in circumstances that remain heavily disputed.

The Israeli military says that troops conducting operations in Jenin had come under heavy fire from all sides and had fired back, including towards the area where Abu Akleh was standing about 200 metres from their position, but that they had not been able to identify her as a journalist.

It said "there is a high possibility that Ms. Abu Akleh was accidentally hit by IDF gunfire that was fired toward suspects identified as armed Palestinian gunmen". It said it was also possible that she was hit by Palestinian gunmen.

One of the most recognizable faces reporting on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict for two decades, Abu Akleh's death triggered outrage across the world, particularly after police beat mourners at her funeral in Jerusalem.