Family reiterates call for independent US inquiry into killing of journalist in West Bank

The family of Palestinian-American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh have reiterated their call for an independent US investigation into her killing and accountability for her death.

On Thursday, the Al-Jazeera journalist’s family held a news conference at Capitol Hill in Washington and called for “meaningful action” from the US government.

The 51 year old was shot in the head in the flashpoint West Bank refugee camp of Jenin as she covered an Israeli army raid on May 11th aimed at seizing Palestinian militants.

The US has claimed an Israeli soldier is “likely” to have shot her but the state department said on July 4th an assessment found this was “not intentional” and a “tragic accident”. This assessment was based on testimony of Israel-Palestine security co-ordinator US Lieut Gen Mark Schwartz who found that forensic examination of the fatal bullet was “inconclusive” and there was no evidence she was targeted.

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At the news conference, the journalist’s nephew, Viktor, told reporters: “We want to know who pulled the trigger and why and we want there to be accountability for the system that gave the green light. There must be consequences for killing a US citizen, a journalist and most importantly a human being.”

Her brother, Tony, criticised US president Joe Biden for not meeting the family when he was “10 minutes away” when he visited Israel and the West Bank earlier this month. During that visit on July 15th, Mr Biden promised “the US will continue to insist on a full and transparent accounting of her death”.

The family met US secretary of state Antony Blinken on Tuesday and Lina Abu Akleh, Shireen’s niece said he reiterated the line adopted on July 4th.

She told the Washington Post: “We were hoping they would tell us something we hadn’t heard before.” She believes her aunt – who was widely known and respected in the Arab world – “was clearly targeted” by a “very precise shot”. She was wearing a flak jacket marked with the word PRESS and a helmet and was accompanied by a cameraman. “There is no way that’s a mistake,” her niece said and called for accountability for both the Israeli sniper who fired the fatal shot and the officer who issued the order.

She asked Mr Blinken how the US had reached its conclusion when there was “no one qualified to say if it was intentional or not”. She wanted to know why they had released a statement which she believes “is very damaging to the truth”.

Israel admission

Israel initially blamed Palestinian gunmen then admitted an Israeli soldier was likely to blame but said it was not intentional. The UN humanitarian affairs office ruled the Israeli army was culpable, and the Palestinian Authority accused Israel of deliberately shooting the journalist. Israel’s defence minister, Benny Gantz, expressed regret over the killing and promised Israel was determined to uncover the truth.

Israel also came in for severe international criticism after clashes during Abu Akleh’s funeral in Jerusalem, when police charged mourners carrying Palestinian flags with batons, almost causing the coffin to fall to the ground.

The family has received support from 24 US senators and 60 House members, including Democrat representatives Alexandria Ocasio Cortez and Rashida Tlaib, who is of Palestinian origin. Senators Chris van Hollen and Patrick Leahy have submitted a proposal for Mr Blinken to conduct an “independent, credible” investigation into the journalist’s death.

Independent investigations carried out by US media as well as the Israeli rights organisation B’Tselem have shown that Abu Akleh and her team were at the entrance to Jenin where there were no clashes. They were walking toward a convoy of Israeli armoured vehicles when a sniper fired six shots in their direction. As they retreated, Abu Akleh was killed and Al-Jazeera journalist Ali al-Samoudi was wounded during a second seven-shot round.

The Irish Times received no reply from the White House to a question about Mr Biden’s refusal to meet the family and was referred by the state department to Thursday’s briefing by spokesman Ned Price who said: “We’ll continue to communicate with Congress on this important matter.”