The US State Department renewed its call for Israel to conduct a comprehensive and transparent investigation into the killing of Al-Jazeera correspondent Shireen Abu Aqleh, and stressed the need for the investigation to include identification of those responsible for the killing.

On Friday, US State Department spokesman Ned Price said that the United States reiterated its call for a "comprehensive and transparent" investigation into the killing of Palestinian-American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh, stressing that such an investigation should include determining who is responsible for the killing.

In this context, Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said that the meeting between US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and his Israeli counterpart, Benny Gantz, touched on the killing of journalist Shireen Abu Akleh.

In response to a question by Al-Jazeera correspondent, Kirby added that Austin welcomed Israel's announcement of its intention to conduct the investigation, noting that Washington wants this investigation to be comprehensive and transparent.

In turn, Stephane Dujarric, spokesman for the Secretary-General of the United Nations, stressed that the international organization is still calling for an independent and transparent investigation into the killing of Al-Jazeera correspondent Shireen Abu Aqleh, after the Israeli military police announced that a criminal investigation had not been opened into her killing.

Dujarric explained that the UN Secretariat traditionally needs a mandate from a UN legislative body to participate in any investigation into the incident.

Members of Congress expressed in their letter their deep concern about the killing of Shireen (Al Jazeera)

movement in Congress

And 56 members of Congress signed a letter calling on the US authorities to conduct an investigation into the murder of colleague Shireen Abu Akleh.

In their letter, members of Congress expressed their deep concern over the killing of Shireen, and demanded that journalists around the world be protected at all costs.

In the letter, the members said the State Department described Shireen's killing as an insult to the press and welcomed the statements and actions the Department has taken to date in support of a thorough investigation.

They also called on Secretary of State Anthony Blinken and FBI Director Christopher Wray to conduct this investigation in view of what they described as the fragility of the situation in the region and conflicting news about the killing of Shireen.

Members of Congress urged the US authorities to uphold the values ​​on which America was built, including human rights, equality for all, and freedom of expression, and said the authorities had a duty to protect American journalists abroad.

For her part, Democratic Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said that journalist Shireen Abu Aqleh was shot dead by Israeli forces, and this matter cannot be allowed to happen using American resources and taxpayer money.

Ocasio stressed, in a video she posted on her Instagram account, that demanding human rights for Palestinians is not anti-Semitism.


Palestinian accusations

On the Palestinian side, the Palestinian Foreign Ministry renewed its accusation that Israel was trying to evade responsibility for the murder of colleague Shireen Abu Akleh.

Ahmed Al-Deek, political advisor to the Palestinian Foreign Minister, said that Israel is trying to evade responsibility for the execution of the martyr Shireen Abu Aqleh, and Al-Deek confirmed - in a previous interview with Al Jazeera - that the Palestinian Authority will not hand over to the occupation army any evidence related to proving that they committed this heinous crime, as he described it. .

The Palestine Mission to the United Nations, in a tweet on Twitter, asked who will be held accountable for the killing of Shireen Abu Akleh, given the Israeli army's decision not to investigate her death?!

The Israeli occupation army had announced its refusal to open a criminal investigation into the circumstances of the assassination of colleague Shireen Abu Akleh.

The Associated Press quoted a military source as saying that the Israeli army had identified the gun from which the bullet that killed Al-Jazeera's reporter, Shireen Abu Akleh, may have been fired.

However, the Israeli army spokesman, Avichai Adraee, said that there is no way at the present time to open an investigation into the circumstances of Abu Akleh's death.

Amnesty International described Israel's decision not to investigate the assassination of colleague Shireen Abu Aqleh as a violation of international law, and indicated that the occupation's failure to investigate was an additional violation of Shireen's right to life, and described the Israeli decision as a clear violation of Israel's obligations under international law.


direct targeting

Video clips confirmed what was stated in the testimony of the journalist Mujahid Al-Saadi, who was one of the companions of the colleague Sherine Abu Akleh.

Al-Saadi had spoken to Al-Jazeera about the occupation forces deliberately targeting the journalists' team, which led to the assassination of Shireen.

There were no signs of clashes in the video as the team of journalists was walking normally in the street.

Al-Jazeera correspondent said that the investigation of the Public Prosecution and the Palestinian Forensic Medicine Institute revealed that the bullet that killed our colleague Shireen Abu Aqleh was used only by the Israeli occupation forces.