The FBI opened its own investigation to clarify the circumstances of the death of Shireen Abu Akleh, the Palestinian-American journalist killed during an Israeli army raid in Jenin in May. Most NGO and media investigations concluded that the fatal shot was fired by a Hebrew soldier, but the Israeli army initially insisted that she was the victim of a projectile fired by Palestinian militiamen.
After a US forensic investigation, which ruled that the bullet was badly damaged but that all indications point to Israeli responsibility, the army eventually admitted that a soldier fired it “by mistake”. However, Defense Minister Benny Gantz considered that “the decision of the US Department of Justice to investigate the death of Shireen Abu Akleh is a serious mistake. I have already made it clear that we will not cooperate with any outside investigation, nor will we allow any interference in Israel’s internal affairs.”
Washington’s judicial setback comes in the midst of a transition of power in the Jewish state, with the imminent inauguration of Benjamin Netanyahu after his resounding victory in the November 1 elections. The movement of the FBI represents a turn of the Joe Biden administration, which for months defended that it would not open a judicial case.
The veteran Al Jazeera correspondent – she had spent decades covering the Palestinian-Israeli conflict – was a very popular voice in the Arab world, and her death shocked Palestinian society. Her family, who led the campaign to demand justice, celebrated the news. “We ask for a US investigation from the beginning, since it is what corresponds to the death of an American citizen killed abroad. Let’s hope that answers are obtained about Shireen’s death and that those responsible for this atrocity pay for it,” they said in a statement.
This is an unusual investigation, which could lead to a claim from the US justice system to investigate the soldiers involved in the military raid in Jenin. If it happens, it is foreseeable that Israel will reject the request, which would strain the beginning of the relationship between Biden and Netanyahu. A score of Democratic senators signed a letter demanding the opening of the judicial process by the FBI. “This is an important step in the search for justice for American citizen and journalist Shireen Abu Akleh,” said Senator Chris Van Hollen.
The reporter, who was wearing a press vest when she was shot, was with more journalists near the crossfire between Israeli soldiers and Palestinian militants. Her companions and the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) accused the Tzahal of deliberately targeting Abu Akleh, but the Israeli military spokesman then assured that they were in the area from which the hooded Palestinians were shooting. When the investigations showed that the reporters were hundreds of meters from the militiamen, the Israeli army recognized the probable author of the fatal shot.
A week ago, US State Department spokesman Ned Price stated that it is not up to Washington “to say what the Israeli army or other security forces in the world should do.” Although FBI investigations into deaths of US citizens abroad are common, it is unheard of for it to occur in cases that have occurred in allied countries such as Israel, whose judicial system is independent and credible in the eyes of the White House.
