Israeli forces will not open an investigation into the killing of Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh, 51, in Jenin last week, despite her being shot in the head by an army sniper, Israeli media reported.
According to the Israeli newspaper Haaretz, the Military Police Criminal Investigation Division believes that an investigation that treats Israeli soldiers as suspects will lead to opposition within Israeli society.
Haaretz: Israeli forces’ Military Police Criminal Investigation Division does not plan to investigate the fatal shooting of Shireen Abu Akleh who was shot and killed last week by an Israeli sniper while she was covering a military raid in Jenin refugee camp in occupied West Bank. pic.twitter.com/nggrYBJY3U
— Quds News Network (@QudsNen) May 19, 2022
In response, Abu Akleh’s family said that they had anticipated this and reiterated their call for a transparent probe into her shooting. “We were expecting this from the Israelis. That’s why we didn’t want them to participate in the investigation,” the family told Al Jazeera.
“We want to hold whoever is responsible for these acts accountable. We urge the United States in particular – since she was a US citizen – and the international community to open a just and transparent investigation and put an end to the killings.”
According to Haaretz, there was “no suspicion” of the shooting being a criminal act. When questioned, Israeli soldiers claimed that they thought they were firing at a Palestinian fighter, despite witnesses and Al Jazeera journalists reporting that there was no shooting in Abu Akleh’s vicinity.
Israel's Military Police Criminal Investigation Division will not investigate the fatal shooting of Shireen Abu Akleh, the Palestinian-American Al Jazeera journalist killed in an Israeli raid on May 11, on grounds of no suspicion of criminal act, Haaretz reports pic.twitter.com/8LGE2AOsy0
— TRT World (@trtworld) May 19, 2022
The journalist was also wearing a flak jacket marked clearly as “PRESS” and had a helmet on when she was assassinated on May 11, while covering the occupation army’s storming of the Jenin refugee camp.
(MEMO, PC, Social Media)
