Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid on Wednesday opposed proposals to prosecute a soldier who is believed to have shot dead Palestinian-American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh during an army operation earlier this year.

The veteran Al Jazeera reporter was wearing a bulletproof vest marked “Press” and a helmet when she was shot in the head during the army operation at the Jenin refugee camp in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

The Israeli army admitted for the first time on Monday that one of its soldiers probably shot Abu Akleh after mistaking her for a militant.

“There is a strong possibility that Ms. Abu Akleh was accidentally hit by IDF (army) shots fired at suspects identified as Palestinian armed gunmen,” the army’s final report on her May 11 death read .

The confirmation comes after months during which the army had insisted it was impossible to pinpoint the source of the fatal shot that killed the famous Al Jazeera journalist and said it could have been militant fire.

“I will not allow an IDF (army) soldier who is protecting himself from terrorist fire to be prosecuted just to get applause from abroad,” Lapid said at a military ceremony.

“No one is going to dictate our rules of engagement to us,” he said.

“Our soldiers have the full support of the Israeli government and people.”

US State Department spokesman Vedant Patel said at a news conference on Tuesday: “We will continue to urge our Israeli partners to closely review their policies and practices regarding rules of engagement and to consider additional steps to reduce the risk of civilian… mitigate damage.”

A United Nations investigation in June concluded that there was “no evidence of armed Palestinian activity in the vicinity” when Abu Akleh was shot.

The Israeli military lawyer said on Monday the circumstances of the incident “do not raise the suspicion that a crime has been committed that would justify the opening of a criminal investigation.”

The Abu Akleh family said Israel “refused to accept responsibility for the murder” of the journalist.

Al Jazeera has denounced the findings of the Israeli probe and called for an investigation by an “independent international body”.

US State Department spokesman Ned Price on Monday “underscored the importance of accountability in this case to prevent similar incidents from occurring in the future.”