Family of slain Palestinian journalist calls for US investigation into killing

The family of Shireen Abu Akleh, a Palestinian American journalist who was killed by Israeli authorities during a raid in the West Bank, has called on U.S. officials to launch an investigation into the journalist’s killing. 

“We want the U.S. to … conduct an investigation themselves,” Abu Akleh’s niece, Lina Abu Akleh, told The Hill in an interview on Wednesday. “That’s why the U.S. needs to step up, and they need to take this matter seriously.” 

Abu Akleh also said that the family wants to have a sit-down meeting with President Biden on the matter, adding that the administration has the “power” and “authority” to hold the Israeli government accountable in her aunt’s killing. 

“I think it’s very important that he meets with us,” Abu Akleh said. “The kind of meeting will show us how serious he’s taking this matter, and most importantly he will hear directly from us as a family.” 

“They have the power, they have the authority to hold the Israeli occupation accountable, and we’re hoping that this is what they’ll do,” Abu Akleh added. 

The family said they also met with Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Tuesday to discuss their demand for justice in Shireen Abu Akleh’s killing, as well as with lawmakers such as Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) and Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) and Reps. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.), Barbara Lee (D-Calif.) and Betty McCollum (D-Minn.).

Shireen Abu Akleh, a veteran journalist who worked for Al Jazeera’s Arabic-language channel, was shot and killed in May during an Israel Defense Forces (IDF) raid on a refugee camp in the occupied Palestinian territories.

She was covering the raid for Al Jazeera in Jenin, a city in the West Bank that is controlled by the Palestinian Authority.

The State Department earlier this month agreed that the bullet that struck and killed her appeared to have been fired by the IDF, though it indicated that ballistic experts said that the bullet was badly damaged, preventing a clear conclusion. Several American news outlets, including The New York Times and CNN, have concluded after investigations that Abu Akleh was killed by a bullet fired by the IDF.

“You know, at the end of the day she was a U.S. citizen,” Lina Abu Akleh added in the interview with The Hill. “And as [Blinken] said that we have a duty to protect our citizens, we will hold him to that. He has the duty to protect all U.S. citizens, and therefore there should be a U.S. investigation that is transparent.”