Israeli Forces Kill Shireen Abu Akleh, Four Years Pass With No Accountability

Four years after veteran Palestinian-American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh was killed by Israeli forces in the West Bank, the International Press Institute (IPI) said there has been no progress toward accountability for her killing.

IPI said Abu Akleh was fatally shot in the head on May 11, 2022, while reporting on an Israeli military raid on the Jenin refugee camp for Al Jazeera, and that her producer, Al Jazeera journalist Ali al-Samoudi, was also wounded during the incident.

Al Jazeera

IPI Executive Director Scott Griffen said, "The failure of the international community to hold Israel accountable has opened the door yet wider for emboldened attacks on journalists," while the organization called on the U.S. government to conduct and ensure a full, credible, and independent investigation.

The Associated Press, CNN, Forensic Architecture, The New York Times, The Washington Post, and Bellingcat concluded in the weeks after Abu Akleh’s death that she was killed by a bullet fired by a member of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), and several investigations determined she had been intentionally targeted.

In July 2022, the U.S. State Department delivered a three-paragraph assessment finding Israeli fire was "likely responsible" for Abu Akleh’s death, while the bullet was too badly damaged to say conclusively.

Abu Akleh’s family said no one has been brought to justice four years after the Palestinian-American journalist was shot dead by Israeli troops, and they criticized the United States for failing to pursue accountability.

Abu Akleh’s niece Lina Abu Akleh told Arab News, "The ongoing impunity sends a dangerous message that journalists can be targeted without consequence," and she said the family was "deeply disappointed by the lack of meaningful action by the US administration."

Al Jazeera

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) urged US authorities to relaunch their investigation, and in a letter to the US Department of Justice CPJ said, "it has made no demonstrable progress" since the FBI reportedly opened an investigation in November 2022.

CPJ also said it was "not aware that any formal interviews have been conducted with witnesses" despite multiple witnesses expressing willingness to cooperate, and it described the lack of progress as a failure to respond promptly and impartially.

In the same period, Al Jazeera reported that medics had to restrain Ali al-Samoudi while tending to his bullet wound when Abu Akleh arrived at Ibn Sina Hospital, and al-Samoudi said, "We have seen that pattern repeated in Gaza and Lebanon for more than two years now."

IPI said the assassination of Abu Akleh exposed a broader pattern of Israeli killings of journalists that existed long before her death and has accelerated since, with more than 250 journalists killed during the Israel-Hamas war on October 7, 2023, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists.

“Medics had to restrain Palestinian journalist Ali al-Samoudi while tending to his bullet wound when the body of his colleague Shireen Abu Akleh arrived at Ibn Sina Hospital in the occupied West Bank”

Al Jazeera

IPI added that despite a ceasefire, killings of journalists in Gaza continued, and it said Israel has now begun targeting journalists during a separate conflict with Lebanon.

IPI also cited a 2024 UNESCO report finding the impunity rate for killings of journalists worldwide is 85% and said it has remained unchanged for more than ten years.

Al Jazeera reported that since the killing, Israel has killed hundreds of journalists and more than 10 US citizens in Gaza, Lebanon and the West Bank, and it said none of the killings, including the Abu Akleh case, have led to any arrests or charges.

In a statement carried by PressTV, Lina Abu Akleh said, "We want the US to provide a public update on the investigation and ensure full transparency," and she called for sanctioning the Israeli military unit responsible and holding the entire system accountable.