Latest news with #AbuAkleh
France 24
11-05-2025
- Politics
- France 24
Film claims to name killer of slain journalist Shireen Abu Akleh
Abu Akleh, a Palestinian-American journalist known for her coverage of the Arab-Israeli conflict, was shot dead in Jenin in the north of the occupied West Bank while she worked, wearing a bulletproof vest marked "press." Al Jazeera and witnesses immediately blamed the Israeli army. Then Israeli prime minister Naftali Bennett said it was probable the shots had come from Palestinian militants. In the weeks that followed, several journalistic investigations pointed the blame at Israeli gunfire. Months later, Israel released an internal investigation that found a "high probability" that Abu Akleh was accidentally shot by the Israeli army, which claimed it was targeting armed Palestinians. Produced by independent news site Zeteo, the documentary "Who killed Shireen?" names for the first time the suspect as Alon Scaggio, an elite soldier. "Israel did everything it could to conceal the soldier's identity, they wouldn't provide the US with any information. They wouldn't let the US interview him. They wouldn't give the US his statement. And they wouldn't give his name," said Dion Nissenbaum, a journalist who worked on the film. Assisted by producer Conor Powell and reporter Fatima AbdulKarim -- who worked for The New York Times in the West Bank -- Nissenbaum, a former Wall Street Journal correspondent, consulted testimony from two Israeli soldiers present in Jenin on May 11, 2022 as well as top US officials. 'Intentional killing' claim The documentary alleges that Scaggio, then 20, had completed training for the elite Duvdevan unit just three months prior. "He shot her intentionally. There's no question about that. The question is did he know she was a journalist and did he know she was Shireen Abu Akleh? Was it an order from above?" Nissenbaum told AFP. "Personally, I don't think it was an order. I don't think he knew it was Shireen. Nobody ever has indicated that he could tell that it was Shireen. But she was wearing the blue flak-jacket with the word 'press' on it." "The evidence (suggests)... it was an intentional killing of Shireen Abu Akleh. Whether or not they knew it was her or not can very well be debated, but they would have absolutely known that it was a media person or a non-combatant at a minimum," said a senior official from the administration of then US president Joe Biden, speaking in the film anonymously. Washington did not exert significant pressure on the issue, the documentary claims, for fear of antagonizing its ally. Democratic Senator Chris Van Hollen said he called on Biden to declassify documents about the killing -- but went unanswered. The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) said "it is the first time that a potential suspect has been named in connection with an Israeli killing of a journalist" according to its records dating back to 1992. Impunity in the case "has effectively given Israel permission to silence hundreds more" journalists, the CPJ said. Reporters Without Borders estimates around 200 journalists were killed in the past 18 months of Israeli strikes on Gaza. An Israeli army spokesman condemned the unauthorized disclosure of the suspect's name despite no "definitive determination" of who shot Abu Akleh. The soldier in question "fell during an operational activity," the army added. Nissenbaum had initially thought Scaggio died in Gaza, but ultimately concluded he was killed in Jenin on June 27, 2024 almost two years after Abu Akleh.
L'Orient-Le Jour
09-05-2025
- Politics
- L'Orient-Le Jour
Documentary identifies Israeli soldier allegedly responsible for killing journalist Shireen Abu Akleh in 2022
A new documentary, released Thursday by Zeteo, an independent American media outlet, claims to have identified the Israeli soldier who allegedly shot al-Jazeera correspondent Shireen Abu Akleh in May 2022 in the occupied West Bank, where she was killed while reporting in Jenin. Abu Akleh was a Palestinian-American journalist who had worked for al-Jazeera since 1997, according to the Qatari channel. Initially blaming Palestinian fighters for the shooting, the Israeli army later acknowledged a 'high probability' that its forces had 'accidentally' killed the journalist. Zeteo, based in Washington, was founded by journalist Mehdi Hassan. It is dedicated, according to its website, to in-depth investigative journalism without corporate funding or sponsors, relying on contributions from its subscribers to finance its projects. 'It wasn't a problem for him' According to the outlet, the soldier accused of killing the journalist was Alan Scagio, a sniper from the Israeli army's Duvdevan unit, who was killed in June 2024 by an improvised roadside bomb in Jenin. In the film, a friend claimed that the shooter 'was not tormented' by the death of Abu Akleh. 'It wasn't a problem for him, but he was not proud of it either,' the friend stated, while also noting that since then, the Duvdevan unit 'uses the journalist's image as a target during shooting exercises.' According to the investigators who made the documentary, the soldier was subsequently transferred to another unit, to a command position, 'to distance him from the investigation' into the shooting. The documentary also pointed out that the Biden administration, based on numerous testimonies, 'knew or suspected' that the journalist was killed by an Israeli soldier, but continued to support Israeli versions citing Palestinian fighters' involvement, then accidental shooting. Washington reportedly also 'refused to put pressure' on Israel over this matter, 'to avoid angering the Israeli government.' Impunity This American stance and the impunity following the murder of Abu Akleh allegedly 'contributed to the deaths of other Americans and other civilians,' according to U.S. Senator Chris Van Hollen, interviewed in the documentary. The journalist's death occurred during a period of escalating Israeli raids in the West Bank in 2022, which resulted in dozens of deaths. Since then, and amid a violent Israeli offensive on Gaza, violence has increased in the West Bank, where Israel launched a broad operation last January, displacing tens of thousands of Palestinians, notably from the Jenin camp. Already, since the start of the war on Oct. 7, 2023, triggered by the bloody attack by the Hamas movement against Israel, the West Bank has been plagued by violence. Since that date, at least 925 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli soldiers or settlers, according to figures from the Palestinian Health Ministry. At the same time, at least 33 Israelis, including soldiers, have been killed in the West Bank in Palestinian attacks or during military operations, according to official Israeli data.
New Straits Times
09-05-2025
- New Straits Times
New documentary claims to identify Israeli soldier who killed Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh
KUALA LUMPUR: A new documentary claims to identify the Israeli soldier who fatally shot Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh in the occupied West Bank in 2022. Abu Akleh, a 51-year-old Palestinian-American, was wearing a helmet and flak jacket clearly marked "Press" when she was killed while covering an Israeli military raid in Jenin on May 11, 2022. Her death drew international condemnation. Under pressure from the United States, the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) later admitted there was a "high possibility" she was shot by an Israeli soldier, though it insisted the killing was unintentional, according to CNN on Thursday. The documentary "Who Killed Shireen?," produced by independent outlet Zeteo, suggests otherwise. It alleges the Biden administration privately concluded the shooting was deliberate but refrained from saying so publicly to avoid straining ties with Israel. A former US official interviewed in the film says the soldier "would have absolutely known" Abu Akleh was a non-combatant. The documentary does not clarify how the official obtained this information but cites a source saying they had direct knowledge of internal US assessments. An Israeli soldier interviewed anonymously claims the shooter belonged to the elite Duvdevan unit and identified him by name. CNN, which was involved in earlier investigations, has not independently verified this claim and did not publish the name. "When you open the corner and you have this second to take a decision... and you see someone who hold a camera... you don't need more than that to shoot the bullet," the soldier said. The alleged shooter was reportedly killed in June 2024 by a roadside explosive during an operation in Jenin. His family said he died while rescuing wounded medics. In response, the IDF criticised the decision to name the soldier, saying there was no definitive finding confirming he was responsible for the journalist's death. A July 2022 US State Department report concluded that the IDF was "likely responsible" for the shooting but found "no reason to believe" the act was intentional. The documentary claims this conclusion was softened under internal political pressure. Since Abu Akleh's death, press freedoms in the region have further deteriorated. In May 2024, Israel banned Al Jazeera from operating in the country and the West Bank, and sealed its Ramallah office. Press groups say at least 175 journalists have been killed in Gaza since Israel launched its campaign following Hamas's Oct 7, 2023 attacks. US Senator Chris Van Hollen, who appears in the film, criticised Washington's handling of the case, saying stronger action after Abu Akleh's death might have prevented further civilian casualties. In a statement to CNN, her family said: "Our calls for justice have never been about one individual soldier, but rather the entire chain of command... Only then can there be any hope for real closure, not just for Shireen, but for every journalist and family seeking truth."
Yahoo
08-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Key takeaways: Documentary names alleged killer of Al Jazeera's Abu Akleh
A new documentary claiming to have uncovered the name of the Israeli soldier responsible for shooting Al Jazeera correspondent Shireen Abu Akleh has been released online. Abu Akleh, a Palestinian American who had been with Al Jazeera since 1997, was killed while reporting from Jenin in the occupied West Bank in May 2022. Shortly after her death, Israeli officials and media suggested she had been killed by Palestinian gunfire. However, subsequent reports from human rights organisations and news agencies showed that the Palestinian fighters initially accused by Israel were some distance from Abu Akleh's killing and, in September, Israel conceded there was a 'high probability' its forces had 'accidentally' killed the correspondent. Contributors to the documentary, Who Killed Shireen? released on Thursday by Zeteo, suggested that Abu Akleh's killing has helped further embolden a sense of impunity among Israeli soldiers, which has since contributed to the killing of more than 200 journalists by the Israeli military and settlers in the West Bank. Here are four of the key takeaways from the investigation: According to numerous testimonies featured in the film, officials within the Biden administration either knew or suspected that Abu Akleh had been shot by an Israeli soldier, but continued to support Israeli claims that she had been killed by Palestinians. The filmmakers also claim that US officials had been informed by an unnamed Israeli general responsible for the West Bank within hours of Abu Akleh's killing that one of his soldiers had likely shot her. Despite this, US officials continued to support public Israeli accounts of Abu Akleh's killing that attempted to shift the blame, and then, when Israel publicly admitted the likely culpability of one of its soldiers, that the killing was unintentional. US officials did not publicly dispute that narrative, and instead said they were unable to determine if a crime had been committed without access to the shooter, which Israel refused to allow. Speaking to reporter Dion Nissenbaum, one anonymous staffer within the former administration of President Joe Biden said that officials declined to press the Israeli administration on killing one of their citizens for fear of 'anger[ing] the Israeli government'. This is despite officials having concluded, the same source said, that Abu Akleh's killing had been an intentional act. Interviewed in the documentary, Eyal Hulata, who was Israel's national security adviser at the time of the killing, defended Israel's decision not to release the suspected soldier for questioning by the United States, saying that Israel had a 'very good and trustworthy investigative mechanism'. Asked if he could ever remember the subject of the US journalist's murder arising in discussions between President Biden and Naftali Bennett, who was Israeli prime minister at the time, Hulala replies, 'This wasn't a topic between the prime minister and the president.' Further requests from the Biden administration that Israel change the rules of engagement that some felt had led to Abu Akleh's death met, according to one interviewee, 'the brush off'. The failure of the Biden administration to hold Israel to account or bring about a change to its rules of engagement after Abu Akleh's murder has, US Senator Chris Van Hollen told filmmakers, contributed towards 'the deaths of … other Americans and other civilians'. The film reports that, according to soldiers active that day, Abu Akleh was killed by Alon Scagio, a sniper with the Israeli military's elite 'Duvdevan' unit. Speaking of his response to having killed the journalist, despite her identity as a member of the press being clear, a friend of Scagio says he didn't 'remember anything special' about Abu Akleh's killing, 'so it wasn't, like, an issue. He wasn't happy, like, 'Hey, I killed a journalist,' of course, but he wasn't … eating himself from the inside.' Investigations by the filmmakers show Scagio was moved out of the Duvdevan to a commander position in a different unit, distancing him from any investigation, as a result, the filmmakers guess, of having killed Abu was later killed in June 2024 by a roadside bomb in Jenin, the same West Bank city in which he is accused of killing Abu Akleh. As a result of the fallout from Abu Akleh's killing, Scagio's friend claims the Duvdevan unit took to using her image for target practice. The killing of Abu Akleh came during what at the time was considered an intense phase of Israeli raids on the occupied West Bank. She was one of at least 145 Palestinians killed during the raids in 2022. But since then, Israel has only ramped up its violence in both the West Bank and Gaza. Israel has killed more than 52,000 Palestinians since it launched its war on Gaza in October 2023, decimating the territory and refusing the entry of food since March, starving the local population. And in the West Bank, Israel has increased the severity of its attacks, using heavy weaponry and air strikes, and forcing Palestinians out of their homes. More than 900 Palestinians have been killed there. Despite that, the US – both under former President Joe Biden and current President Donald Trump – has maintained its support of Israel, even as much of the rest of the world has criticised its actions. At the United Nations, the US regularly votes alongside Israel, while the majority of member states seek to use the international body to pressure Israel to stop. And the US has threatened the International Criminal Court for seeking to arrest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for committing war crimes. It is, therefore, perhaps no surprise that, even though Abu Akleh was a journalist doing her job when she was killed and an American citizen, the US has been willing to look the other way.
Yahoo
08-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Documentary sheds light on Biden's reactions to Shireen Abu Akleh's killing
A documentary film has shed new light on how the administration of United States President Joe Biden responded to the killing of Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh, suggesting Washington had evidence indicating her shooting death was likely intentional. An Israeli sniper fatally shot Abu Akleh nearly three years ago while she reported from the Jenin refugee camp in the Israeli-occupied West Bank on May 11, 2022. The new film — a 40-minute investigative documentary from the Washington, DC-based media company Zeteo — was released on Thursday just ahead of the anniversary of her death. Under the title Who Killed Shireen?, the documentary explores not only who pulled the trigger but why justice has been so elusive in Abu Akleh's case. It also offers the clearest picture yet of the Biden administration's political manoeuvring as public pressure mounted for accountability. Abu Akleh was a US citizen, and during her final reporting assignment, she wore both a helmet and a blue vest clearly labelled with the word 'press' to indicate her status as a journalist. In the aftermath of her killing, the Biden administration faced pressure to investigate the circumstances of her death and whether the shooting was intentional. But while the administration initially called for an 'independent, credible investigation', it shifted its stance as the months progressed. It walked back calls for the killer to be 'prosecuted' and eventually described the shooting as 'the result of tragic circumstances'. It also eased its scrutiny of the Israeli military, calling for accountability only in the form of a review of its 'rules of engagement'. The documentary Who Killed Shireen? features interviews from former Washington insiders about why the Biden administration made such a pivot. Its most damaging testimony comes from an anonymous official, who spoke with his face and voice obscured. In the film, the official claims the evidence available to the Biden administration indicated that Abu Akleh's death 'was an intentional killing'. He said that assessment was based on the 'visual capabilities of that day' and the distance between the Israeli snipers and the journalists who were shot. Another journalist, Ali al-Samoudi, was also wounded at the same time as Abu Akleh, though he survived his gunshot. 'Whether or not they knew it was her [Abu Akleh] or not can very well be debated, but they would have absolutely known it was a media person or a noncombatant at a minimum that [the Israeli soldier] shot and killed,' the anonymous Biden official added that it was his 'belief' that the shooter would have been able to see Abu Akleh's blue 'press' jacket. The official acknowledged the shift in the Biden administration's position, from viewing the shooting as 'an intentional killing' to describing it as 'a tragic accident'. He linked that about-face to the historically close ties the US has shared with Israel. 'Ultimately, I think what it came down to was different pressure within the administration to not try to anger the government of Israel too much, by trying to force their hand at saying they intentionally killed a US citizen,' the official said. Another former US official, Andrew Miller, also spoke to filmmakers as part of the documentary. Miller served as the deputy secretary of state for Israeli-Palestinian Affairs from 2022 to 2024, and he indicated that the Biden administration had not been forthcoming about the stonewalling it faced from the Israeli government. He said the government of then-Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett refused to allow the US access to the soldier who fired the fatal shot, even for 'informal' questioning. Miller also cast doubt on Israeli claims that Abu Akleh was shot during a crossfire with Palestinian fighters. He explained that the Biden administration had information from the start that contradicted those claims. 'The fact that the official Israeli position remains that this was a case of crossfire … [that] the entire episode was a mistake — as opposed to potentially a mistake in identification or the deliberate targeting of this individual — points to, I think, a broader policy of seeking to manage the narrative,' Miller Biden administration had never publicly contradicted Israel's assessment. Instead, when the Israeli military released its final report on the killing in September 2022, it said it 'welcomed' the assessment. That report asserted that Abu Akleh was 'accidentally hit' by an Israeli bullet 'during an exchange of fire in which life-risking, widespread and indiscriminate shots were fired toward' Israeli soldiers. To date, the US government has never declassified a State Department report on the killing or confirmed media reports that the Department of Justice was conducting a separate probe. Rights groups, press freedom organisations, and lawmakers have long called the Biden administration's response inadequate, appealing for greater transparency and for the US to withhold aid to the military unit responsible. Advocates said the latest revelations underscore a continued cycle of impunity. 'The US government has acted as an accomplice to Israeli war crimes, not only against Palestinians but Americans, too, trumping loyalty to its own laws and citizens,' said Raed Jarrar, advocacy director at the human rights organisation Democracy for the Arab World Now (DAWN), in a statement responding to the documentary.
