The family of the Palestinian-American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh on Tuesday expressed their hopes that the United States (US) investigation into Akleh’s killing would be “independent, reliable and lead to justice,” and demanded that those responsible be held accountable.
The Abu Akleh family’s statements came after the FBI decided, on Monday, November 14, 2022, to open its own investigation, to find out the circumstances of the assassination of Shireen Abu Akleh.
The family said in a statement, “We are enc2Q into her murder, and this is what the United States should do when a citizen is killed abroad, at the hands of a foreign army.”
The Abu Akleh family also expressed their hopes that “the United States will use all available investigative tools to obtain answers about Shireen’s killing, and hold those responsible for this atrocity accountable.”
The family also called on “all parties that have any evidence to respond to investigation requests from the United States and not stand in the way of justice,” and added, “Our family is ready to support this investigation in every possible way.”
The slain journalist’s family also expressed hope that the investigation would be “independent, reliable and comprehensive” and that it would “follow the evidence wherever it is, up and down the chain of command”.
On Monday evening, November 14, Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz described Washington’s decision to open an investigation into the killing of Abu Akleh as a “grave mistake,” stressing that his country “will not cooperate with any external investigation.”
This came in a statement Gantz posted on Twitter, shortly after the US Department of Justice notified its Israeli counterpart that the FBI had decided to open an investigation into the incident.
In September 2022, the Israeli occupation army published the results of an “in-depth” investigation it had conducted into the incident, and said that there was a “high possibility that Abu Akleh was injured by Israeli army fire during an exchange of fire with those identified as Palestinian gunmen.”
In the same investigation, the Israeli army confirmed that “it is still not possible to determine the party that killed Abu Akleh conclusively,” noting that “there is another hypothesis that is less likely, which is that Abu Ale was hit by Palestinian fire.”
Abu Akleh was martyred on May 11, 2022, and investigations by Palestinian, Israeli and international media and human rights organizations concluded that she was shot by the Israeli occupation army while covering its storming of Jenin.
It is noteworthy that, on July 4, 2022, the United States issued a statement saying that Abu Akleh was likely hit by Israeli fire, but claimed that there was no evidence that her killing was intentional, and that the bullet was so damaged that a “conclusion” could not be reached. ultimate”.
At the time, Abu Akleh’s family criticized this statement, which Washington claimed was based in part on American reviews of the separate Israeli and Palestinian investigations, and demanded that the family retract it.
While the Palestinian Public Prosecutor had stated that the bullet was of 5.56 mm caliber, and was fired from a semi-automatic sniper rifle of the “Roger Mini-14” model, which is a weapon used by the occupation army.
