{"id":173564,"date":"2022-06-27T08:59:08","date_gmt":"2022-06-27T12:59:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.jewishexponent.com\/?p=173564"},"modified":"2022-06-27T08:59:08","modified_gmt":"2022-06-27T12:59:08","slug":"un-concludes-israeli-military-killed-palestinian-journalist-israel-fights-the-claim","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.jewishexponent.com\/un-concludes-israeli-military-killed-palestinian-journalist-israel-fights-the-claim\/","title":{"rendered":"UN Concludes Israeli Military Killed Palestinian Journalist, Israel Fights the Claim"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"
Mourners attend a memorial ceremony for Shireen Abu Akleh, to mark the 40th day of the killing of the Al Jazeera journalist, in the West Bank city of Ramallah on Jun. 19. (Abbas Momani\/AFP via Getty Images via JTA.org)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

By Andrew Lapin<\/p>\n

The United Nations Human Rights Office\u00a0concluded that a Palestinian-American journalist was killed by Israeli security forces last month<\/a>, and said Israel\u2019s failure to conduct a criminal investigation into her death was \u201cdeeply disturbing.\u201d<\/p>\n

In response, the Israel Defense Forces\u00a0called the UN probe \u201cbiased\u201d<\/a>\u00a0and reiterated its call for the Palestinian Authority to hand over\u00a0the bullet that killed Al Jazeera reporter Shireen Abu Akleh in early May<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The UN issued its determination Friday after inspecting photos, video and audio from the scene of the Jenin refugee camp where Abu Akleh was killed (including material from the Israeli military), interviewing eyewitnesses and consulting experts. The office also\u00a0reconstructed what it said was a timeline of the shooting<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe find that the shots that killed Abu Akleh came from Israeli security forces,\u201d spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani said. She added that no evidence could corroborate Israel\u2019s claim that armed Palestinian militants had also been firing at the scene and could be responsible for her death.<\/p>\n

The New York Times, Washington Post and Associated Press also conducted separate investigations and determined she was likely killed by Israeli military.<\/p>\n

Going a step further than\u00a0those media outlets<\/a>, the UN also believed the shots were \u201cseemingly well-aimed bullets\u201d \u2014 a significant claim, as Abu Akleh was wearing clothing clearly identifying her as a journalist at the time she was shot. The P.A., Al Jazeera and CNN have all claimed that Abu Akleh was intentionally targeted by Israeli forces.<\/p>\n

The UN\u2019s determination came\u00a0only a day after 24 Senate Democrats urged President Biden to involve the U.S.<\/a>\u00a0in an independent investigation of Abu Akleh\u2019s killing, citing global press freedom concerns and the journalist\u2019s status as an American citizen among their reasoning. Abu Akleh\u2019s brother\u00a0has also called for the U.S. to be involved in an investigation<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The Senate letter, and\u00a0several<\/a>\u00a0previous<\/a>\u00a0letters<\/a>\u00a0from U.S. legislators also calling for some form of an investigation, reflected a growing international pressure on Israel to address Abu Akleh\u2019s death, which has\u00a0ignited further tensions in the region<\/a>\u00a0and beyond.<\/p>\n

The IDF has so far resisted calls to open a criminal investigation into the matter, and Israel has maintained it cannot conclude its own investigation until the P.A. hands over the bullet. Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and Defense Minister Benny Gantz have previously rejected out of hand any suggestion that Israeli forces could have intentionally targeted a journalist.<\/p>\n

Israel has long claimed that it receives biased treatment at the hands of the UN Human Rights Council, and out of solidarity to Israel the U.S. had resisted joining the council for years\u00a0until the Obama administration<\/a>\u00a0(it then\u00a0left the council under the Trump administration<\/a>\u00a0citing anti-Israel bias).<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The U.N. 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