A group of Republican senators in the United States (US) wrote to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Department of Justice (DoJ) urging them to shut down their investigation into the killing of Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh.
The eight US Republican senators who have signed the letter are Marco Rubio of Florida, Charles E Grassley, Ted Cruz, Rick Scott, Josh Hawley, Mike Braun, Tom Cotton and James Lankford.
On December 14, the Republican senators in their letter indicated that the investigation could negatively affect relations between the United States and Israel.
“This misguided investigation into the IDF (Israeli military), which the DOJ and FBI have no jurisdiction over, must be closed immediately before further harm comes to our bilateral relationship with Israel,” read the letter.
“We are dismayed the DOJ and FBI are seeking to disregard Israeli sovereignty by inserting itself into an investigation which has concluded and which US officials participated in,” it continues.
The letter further asserts that “the investigation highlights DOJ and FBI’s overreach and politicization of investigations.”
The letter says, in light of the findings of previous investigations, “We are confident that Israel has done its part, as an ally of the United States, to establish the truth regarding the circumstances of her tragic death.”
“We will remain vigilant on this issue and will press the Department of State on the FBI Legal Attaché notification processes at our overseas missions regarding foreign policy coordination efforts and deconfliction.”
The letter concludes with the signatories promising to continue to pursue the matter.
On Wednesday, May 11, journalist Abu Akleh was killed after being shot by the Israeli occupation army in the city of Jenin in the north of the occupied West Bank.
Shireen Abu Akleh was born in Jerusalem in 1971 and was one of the first field correspondents for the Qatari Al-Jazeera channel, which she joined in 1997. She held a bachelor’s degree in journalism and media from Yarmouk University in Jordan.
