US calls for 'independent' investigation of Shireen Abu Akleh death

In one of the latest incidents that flared up tensions between Israel and Palestine, Palestinian-American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh was murdered last month. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said an independent investigation must be done to bring accountability to the matter.

Blinken pledged to pursue accountability for Abu Akleh, the veteran journalist for Al Jazeera, who was fatally shot by Israeli forces on May 11. Abu Akleh was killed as she was covering an Israeli raid in the Jenin camp of the occupied West Bank, according to the journalist’s colleagues and witnesses.

“We are looking for an independent, credible investigation. When that investigation happens, we will follow the facts, wherever they lead. It’s as straightforward as that,” said Blinken, responding to a question by The Empire Files host Abby Edward at a forum for student journalists. Edward pressed Blinken on why Israel has not been held accountable for Abu Akleh’s killing.

“I deplore the loss of Shireen. She was a remarkable journalist, an American citizen,” Blinken added, noting that the facts surrounding the killing “have not yet been established.”

Blinken’s call for an independent investigation follows US President Joe Biden’s call for Israel to lead the investigation into Abu Akleh’s killing. Washington has also rejected Palestine’s calls for the International Criminal Court to make a broad investigation into potential war crimes committed by Israeli forces.

US Democratic lawmakers have since called on the FBI to launch its own investigation into Abu Akleh’s killing.

Republican Senator Mitt Romney also backed his Democratic counterpart Jon Ossoff in calling for the Biden administration to push for a “full and transparent investigation.”

Along with US lawmakers, a group of Israeli NGOs, scholars, and members of its civil society made formal requests to have two UN special rapporteurs probe Abu Akleh’s killing. A letter was signed by the groups addressed to the UN Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial Summary or Arbitrary Killings Morris Tidball-Binz and the UN Special Rapporteur on the Occupied Palestinian Territories Francesca Albanese.

The groups cite a number of cases where Palestinian journalists were found fatally shot or injured by Israeli forces with little to no accountability. At least 45 Palestinian journalists have been killed by Israeli forces since 2000, according to the Palestinian Information ministry. No Israeli soldier was held accountable for any of those killings.