From denial and misinformation to internal investigations and impunity, Israel’s handling of Shireen AbuAkleh’s killing reveals a system designed to escape accountability.
The sun was already high over Jenin refugee camp, lighting up the olive trees that lined the road. The air was warm, the sky broken by slow- moving clouds, the kind of morning that looks peaceful until you notice the tension underneath it. People stood at their doors, watching. Children lingered behind walls. Journalists gathered near the street, their helmets on, blue vests marked PRESS visible from a distance. Israeli military vehicles moved in and out of the camp, their presence heavy and familiar. Soldiers took positions. The sounds of the camp, footsteps, murmurs, the rustle of leaves were interrupted by gunfire echoing from nearby.
Then a bullet left a rifle.
It was not fired at an armed man. It was not fired at a threat.
It struck a journalist in a blue vest.
Shireen Abu Akleh collapsed onto the ground, and the morning in Jenin changed forever.
On May 11, 2022, Al Jazeera Journalist, Shireen Abu Akleh was shot by an Israeli Army bullet while reporting a raid on Jenin Camp at the West Bank. She was wearing a blue vest with the word ‘PRESS’ printed in bold letters.
Soon after the unjustified killing of Shireen, Israel issued statements saying that a Palestinian gunfire “maybe” responsible for the death. Later on, it was expressed by Israel that it maybe “highly possible” that an IDF bullet “accidentally” shot her.
The Israeli military announced it would not pursue criminal charges against the soldier involved, arguing that the action occurred during an active, intense exchange of fire with militants, and that the soldier did not knowingly target a journalist. However, visual proofs and statements from the witnesses weren’t enough for Israel to initiate a criminal investigation on the accused IDF soldier. Israel claimed it was “not possible to unequivocally determine the source of the gunfire” and stated that there was no basis for criminal prosecution.
Independent Investigations
Within weeks of the brutal killing of Shireen, a soldier of democracy, multiple independent organisations including by news organisations, human rights groups, and forensic analysis teams concluded that the initial statements released by Israel were incorrect and that the firing couldn’t have possibly been shot for Palestinian militants for there were none present around the area at the time.
It resembled a narrative cooked not to clarify facts, but to systematically erase the very possibility of accountability. In June 2022, the UN Human Rights Office reported that several “well-aimed bullets” fired towards the journalists came from the direction of Israeli security forces, and urged Israel to conduct a criminal investigation.
In October 2023, the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory concluded that Israeli security forces used “lethal force without justification” and likely violated her right to life under international human rights law. The report also indicated that the Duvdevan Unit of Israeli forces fired the deadly shots and identified the commanding officer involved, though the names were not publicly released.
Despite these findings, no criminal charges have been filed, and the military’s own probe did not lead to prosecution of any individual soldier.
Efforts at bringing justice have bore no fruit as of today. The Committee to Protect Journalists, CPJ, has continuously pleaded for a transparent investigation into Israel’s non-cooperative behaviour with the U.S as well international inquiries. CPJ has also highlighted the broader pattern of Journalists killed in the conflict zones where Israeli Military has been deployed. However, the result has led to no meaningful accountability.
The unjustifiable killing of Shireen and the lack of conclusive results allowing to initiate a criminal investigation have been a result of political favours and support of a certain ideology that poses advancing threats of the Journalism community of this world.
As far as accountability is concerned, the investigation led by the Israeli military concluded that they found no “suspicion of criminal offence” and hence there remained no requirement of a police investigation. It has been long noticed that when military conducts investigations on its own, it lacks clarity and truthfulness, especially in the cases involving Palestinian deaths.
Amnesty International has repeatedly criticised this pattern, stating that unlawful killings of Palestinians by Israeli security forces are rarely followed by accountability or punishment.
Justice for Shireen wasn’t an accident but rather a force working by design. When an Israeli bullet shoots a journalist, the message is clear: accountability is optional and power decides whose death matters.
The killing of Shireen isn’t about a journalist or a woman killed. It is about the corrupt methods which lay the foundation of a political system, ruling over a nation of millions of people and protects itself over the cost of lives. If justice can be so easily forgotten, diluted and dismissed, then the real crime is not only the killing of Shireen Abu Akleh, but also the willingness of the world to move on. Silence, after all, is not neutral. It is a choice. And in this case, it chose impunity.
In Jenin, a journalist fell to the ground and somewhere in the Israeli parliament, the system that enabled it grew stronger. With every journalist silenced, impunity tightens its grip.
As we move on with our lives and forget what happened at the Jenin Camp of West Bank, Shireen stands, quietly with her microphone, wearing the blue vest, watching as the people pass by her place of death. Somewhere, she stills hope her death would be served justice. Somewhere, Shireen remains alive.
