UN Concludes Israeli Defense Forces Killed Al Jazeera Journalist Shireen Abu Akleh

Four years after Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh was killed on May 11, 2022, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights concluded that she was killed by a shot fired by the Israeli Defense Forces during an Israeli raid near the Jenin refugee camp in the occupied West Bank.

“Four years after Shireen Abu Akleh’s killing, her family is still seeking US-backed accountability”

Al Jazeera

The UN’s Office of the High Commissioner said the shots did not come from indiscriminate fire by armed Palestinians and that no warning was given, adding that several shots fired in bursts from the Israeli forces struck her and her colleague Ali Sammoudi.

Al Jazeera

UN News reported that one bullet wounded Ali Sammoudi in the shoulder and another bullet struck Shireen Abu Akleh in the head and killed her on the spot, while the UN said Israeli authorities have not opened a judicial inquiry.

The UN also said international human rights law requires a prompt, thorough, transparent, independent, and impartial investigation into any use of force resulting in death or serious injuries, and it said those responsible must be held accountable.

In parallel, the Eastleigh Voice reported that the Committee to Protect Journalists renewed pressure on US authorities, accusing the FBI of making little progress in its investigation into the killing of the Palestinian-American journalist four years after her death.

The Committee to Protect Journalists renewed pressure on US authorities by sending a letter addressed to the US Department of Justice and FBI Director Kash Patel, calling for transparency over what it described as a stalled investigation.

CPJ Regional Director Sara Qudah said, "The killing of Shireen Shireen and the subsequent failure to hold anyone responsible is not an isolated tragedy," and she warned that without an independent investigation and real accountability, attacks would continue.

Al-Jazeera Net

The Eastleigh Voice also said CPJ was not aware of any formal interviews conducted with eyewitnesses despite their willingness to cooperate with investigators, and it questioned whether US authorities had made efforts to gather additional evidence in Israel or the Palestinian territories.

UN News reported that the journalists had chosen a side street to approach to avoid the location of armed Palestinians inside the camp and were moving slowly to make their presence visible to Israeli forces deployed in the street.

Al Jazeera’s archive episode, “Justice for Shireen: The American investigation,” described the family’s push for an independent investigation that leads to real accountability, framing the effort as US-backed accountability that has remained unresolved after four years.

The Eastleigh Voice said CPJ warned that a lack of accountability continues to endanger journalists covering the conflict, and it cited that at least 258 journalists and media workers across the Middle East have been killed since Shireen’s death, including more than 200 in Gaza.

“Shireen, a longtime correspondent for Al Jazeera, was shot dead on May 11, 2022, while covering an Israeli military raid in the occupied West Bank city of Jenin”

The Eastleigh Voice

UN News reported that since the start of the year, Israeli security forces have killed 58 Palestinians in the West Bank, including 13 children, and it said the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights continues to urge Israeli authorities to open a criminal investigation into the murder of Shireen Abu Akleh.

The Eastleigh Voice also described how the Israel Defence Forces said there was a “high possibility” that Shireen had been accidentally shot by an Israeli soldier during an exchange of fire, while it declined to open a criminal investigation into the incident.

Al-Jazeera Net said that in 2026 the question “Who killed Shireen?” is no longer the challenge because independent investigations answered it clearly, but it framed the more urgent question as why the FBI’s official investigation had not produced a single indictment.

Al-Jazeera Net further reported that the documentary “Who Killed Shireen?” identified the shooter as Alon Scagio of the elite unit Duvdevan and said Scagio was later removed from his unit to avoid prosecution before he died in an explosive device in Jenin in 2024.