Veteran Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh has been shot and killed by Israeli forces in the occupied West Bank.

The 51-year-old was covering an Israeli army raid on the Jenin refugee camp when she was shot in the face by a single bullet, despite wearing a press vest, Al Jazeera reported.

Another Palestinian journalist, Ali al-Samoudi, was wounded in the back but is in stable condition.

in a statement, Al Jazeera said Abu Akleh was “assassinated in cold blood” and called on the international community to hold Israeli forces responsible.

Eyewitness and fellow journalist Shatha Hanaysha says journalists in the scene were pinned down by snipers when Abu Akleh was shot.

She told Al Jazeera: “We stood together in a collective way as journalists, then we started moving. We were shocked by the live ammunition fired at us, we reached an area that did not allow us to withdraw.”

“We were just facing the snipers. If they were not really willing to kill some of us, they could have started shooting before our arrival in this narrow area. I see this as a clear assassination of journalists,” she said.

“The one that killed Shireen was intended to kill her because he shot the bullet at an area of her body that was not protected,” Hanaysha also said.

Palestinian MP Khalida Jarrar has said that Abu Akleh was the voice of Palestinians and killed by “the monstrosity of Israeli colonialism and occupation”.

“Shereen was always my voice from the prison cells,” she said, adding that a month into her last detention by Israel, Shireen was the first person she saw at her court hearings.

“Shireen was our voice. It is unbelievable. It is a crime; it is all clear – intentional and direct targeting. She was targeted. It’s clear.”