CPJ calls on the FBI to release a timeline for completing the investigation into Shireen Abu Akleh

Washington, DC, May 10, 2024 – Two years after the killing of Palestinian-American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh by the Israeli military, the Committee to Protect Journalists is deeply troubled by the continued lack of accountability in this case. CPJ is calling on the US Federal Bureau of Investigation to release a timeline for completing its now 18-month investigation into the murder and for the International Criminal Court to investigate the case, as the Abu Akleh family and their employer Al Jazeera have demanded called on Israel to cooperate.

“Israel continues to shield itself from responsibility by deliberately refusing to cooperate with the FBI and by indicating that it will not allow its soldiers to be questioned before the International Criminal Court if an investigation into the murder of Shireen Abu Akleh is opened.” said CPJ program director Carlos Martínez de la Serna in New York. “It is time to break Israel’s long-standing impunity for killing journalists, which has only multiplied in the Israel-Gaza war. The FBI must disclose a timeline for completing its investigation, and Israel must cooperate with the FBI investigation and any future ICC investigations.”

Last November, the US Department of Justice informed Israel of the FBI investigation and Israel said it would not cooperate with the investigation. The FBI has not released any findings publicly, nor has the investigation resulted in any statements of responsibility or arrests.

In 2022 Abu Aklehs Family and her employer, Al Jazeera, submitted applications to the ICC to investigate and prosecute the murder. At the time of Al Jazeera’s December 2022 filing, then-Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid said that “no one will interrogate IDF soldiers.” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has not commented on the Abu Akleh documents.

Multiple independent investigations into the murder of Abu Akleh on May 11, 2022 concluded that the veteran reporter – a well-known name in the region – was shot by a member of the Israeli Defense Forces who said their troops were in the area, ” to arrest terrorist suspects.” Activities.” Some of those in-depth analyses, including one from CNN, found that there was evidence Abu Akleh was deliberately targeted. A U.N. commission also said Israel killed her “intentionally or recklessly.”

In September 2022, the IDF issued a statement regarding its internal investigation concluding that there was a “high probability” that Abu Akleh was “accidentally” killed by Israeli forces. The IDF declined to open a criminal investigation into the killing. In May 2023, IDF chief spokesman Daniel Hagari apologized on CNN for Abu Akleh’s death.

Hagari’s apology came days after CPJ published a report titled “Deadly Pattern” that showed Israel had failed to hold its soldiers accountable for 20 murders of journalists in 22 years. Since the report was published, Israel has killed at least 92 Palestinian journalists and three Lebanese journalists in the ongoing Israel-Gaza war.