According to the Israeli army, journalist Shireen Abu Akleh was "very likely" accidentally shot dead by one of their soldiers.
The army announced on Monday that this was the result of the investigation report.
However, even the investigation by a working group did not lead to absolute clarity as to the direction from which the shot that hit Abu Akleh in the head on the morning of May 11 came.
Thus, it cannot be ruled out that the American-Palestinian reporter was shot by armed Palestinians against whom the army took action that morning in the Palestinian city of Jenin.
Christian Meier
Political correspondent for the Middle East and Northeast Africa.
Follow I follow
After months of opinion fighting, the statement is the army's clearest admission to date that it was probably responsible for the death of the well-known reporter for the Al Jazeera broadcaster.
On May 11, Abu Akleh posted himself with other journalists on the outskirts of the Jenin refugee camp.
They wore helmets and protective vests marked "Press" and had alerted the soldiers to their presence.
According to eyewitnesses, there were no armed Palestinians nearby.
Shots rang out suddenly, Abu Akleh was hit in the back of the head, according to reconstructions by several media and organizations from a distance of about 200 meters.
A colleague of hers also sustained gunshot wounds, and video footage shows that a passer-by who tried to help Abu Akleh, who was lying on the ground,
The Qatari broadcaster Al Jazeera and the Palestinian side immediately and without waiting for investigations blamed Israel for the death of the 51-year-old reporter.
The army put forward various explanations.
Immediately after the incident, she suggested that unaimed fire from Palestinian armed forces may have caused Abu Akleh's death;
however, a video widely used in this context was made elsewhere.
Then it was said for several weeks that only an analysis of the bullet itself could determine the origin of the shot.
When the Palestinian Authority finally handed over the bullet in early July, the army said it was too deformed to carry out a meaningful analysis.
A senior Israeli army official told reporters Monday that the soldiers were on a "battlefield" on the morning of May 11.
They were shot at from multiple directions.
The possible shooter had a narrowed field of vision from his vehicle and did not recognize Abu Akleh as a journalist.
He only had "a moment" to make the decision to shoot, the army official said.
However, the explanations left questions unanswered and in part contradicted other statements and indications.
The alleged heavy shelling in the direction of the soldiers cannot be heard on audio recordings of the incident.
Chief of Staff Aviv Kohavi, who was presented with the report's findings on Monday, nonetheless said the working group had "turned every stone"