Italy's government has expressed its "deep dismay" at the shooting dead of prominent American-Palestinian reporter Shireen Abu Akleh in the West Bank town of Jenin on Wednesday and has called for her killers to be brought to justice.
"Deep dismay for the death of Shireen Abu Akleh, who was killed in Jenin while doing her job of reporting for Al-Jazeera," the foreign ministry tweeted.
"Protection of freedom of information is crucial. Now we need to establish who was responsible and put an end to the violence."
Abu-Akleh, 51, had worked for Al-Jazeera's Arabic language channel for quarter of a century. She was killed while reporting on Israeli military raids in the West Bank city of Jenin. Akleh's producer, Ali Al-Samudi, was also shot and is in stable condition, the Palestinian health ministry said.
The Palestinian Authority has rejected the Israeli government's offer of a joint probe of Abu Akleh's killing and has vowed to take the case straight to the International Criminal Court.