The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has issued an urgent appeal to U.S. authorities, demanding the reopening of the investigation into the killing of Palestinian-American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh. The committee stated that the lack of tangible progress in the case, despite four years passing since the crime, represents a significant failure to protect an American citizen targeted while performing her journalistic duties.
In an official letter sent to Acting U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche and FBI Director Kash Patel, the CPJ called for the resumption of stalled legal proceedings. The letter emphasized that Abu Akleh's killing by Israeli occupation forces in the occupied West Bank in 2022 requires a swift and impartial response from the U.S. government to ensure justice.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) announced the opening of an investigation into the incident in November 2022, but the committee noted that this path has not yielded any real results to date. The CPJ described this delay as a 'dismal failure' reflecting laxity in dealing with a crime committed by a foreign army against a journalist who was clearly wearing a press vest.
The details of the crime date back to May 11, 2022, when Abu Akleh was covering an incursion by occupation forces into the Jenin refugee camp in the northern West Bank. Cameras documented the moments of her fatal injury and collapse, at a time when her colleagues were trying to reach her under a barrage of deliberate gunfire targeting media crews.
For its part, Israeli authorities tried from the outset to evade responsibility by blaming Palestinian gunmen, which independent investigations later refuted. Despite the Israeli occupation army admitting in September 2022 to a 'high probability' that she was killed by its soldiers' fire by mistake, it refused to take any punitive measures against those involved.
The CPJ quoted the family of the martyr Shireen Abu Akleh expressing deep disappointment over the inaction of successive U.S. administrations. The family believes that the absence of accountability gives a green light for the continued targeting of journalists in the field without fear of international legal consequences.
In a related context, an annual report by the Committee to Protect Journalists, issued last February, revealed shocking figures regarding the targeting of media professionals by the Israeli occupation. The report held Israel responsible for the deaths of two-thirds of the journalists who died worldwide in 2025, whose total number reached 129 journalists and media workers.
Despite the Israeli occupation army's repeated denials of deliberately targeting journalists, U.S. military testimonies have raised doubts about the integrity of previous investigations. Retired U.S. Colonel Steve Gabafics stated that Washington deliberately toned down the results of its own investigations into Abu Akleh's case to avoid a political clash with the Israeli government.
In a notable development, a documentary produced by an independent platform succeeded in identifying the Israeli soldier suspected of firing the fatal bullet that killed Shireen. The film, titled 'Who Killed Shireen?', revealed that the soldier is named 'Alon Skaggio,' a member of an elite unit of the occupation army that participated in the Jenin camp operation.
The film's producer, journalist Dion Nissenbaum, explained that Israel made strenuous efforts to conceal the soldier's identity and prevent American investigators from reaching him. Nissenbaum confirmed that Israeli authorities refused to provide the American side with any substantive information or allow an interview with the soldier to hear his testimony about the details of the shooting.
These renewed human rights demands place the current U.S. administration before a real test of the principles of justice and human rights it advocates. The case of Shireen Abu Akleh remains a symbol of the Palestinian journalistic struggle in the face of ongoing violations, amidst international and popular insistence on the necessity of ending the policy of impunity.
Continued impunity sends a dangerous message that journalists can be targeted without accountability.
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Committee to Protect Journalists Demands Washington Reopen Investigation into Shireen Abu Akleh's Assassination