Ravina Shamdasani, a spokeswoman for the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, said today, Friday, that the commission concluded that the killing of Al-Jazeera correspondent Shirin Abu Aqleh on May 11 was the result of fire by Israeli forces, and not due to indiscriminate shooting by Palestinians.

"All the information we have collected - including from the Israeli army and the Palestinian attorney general - confirms the fact that the shots that killed Abu Aqila and wounded her colleague Ali al-Samudi were issued by the Israeli security forces and not as a result of random shots fired by armed Palestinians, as she said," the spokeswoman told a press conference in Geneva. First of all, the Israeli authorities.

"We did not find any information indicating that Palestinian armed men carried out any activity near the journalists," Shamdasani said in a press statement in Geneva.

"It is very worrying that the Israeli authorities have not conducted a criminal investigation," she said.


A UN report indicated that the Office of the High Commissioner reached this conclusion after examining photos, videos and audio materials, visiting the site of Shirin's assassination, consulting experts, reviewing official communications, and interviewing witnesses.

The late Al Jazeera reporter was wearing a flak jacket with the word "press" written on it and a protective helmet when she was shot under her helmet.

American demands

In the same context, a group of 24 US senators urged President Joe Biden yesterday to ensure that the United States has a direct role in the investigation of the killing of the Al-Jazeera reporter while covering an Israeli raid on Jenin in the occupied West Bank last month, noting that it is clear that none of the The parties trust each other to conduct an independent and effective investigation into the killing of Shirin.

The signatories of the letter - which they addressed to President Biden, and Al Jazeera obtained a copy of it - said that they believe at this stage that in order to achieve this goal, the United States should be directly involved in the investigation into the killing of Sherine.

The signatories indicated that 57 members of the House of Representatives called on the FBI last month to launch an independent investigation to find out the truth.


The signatories to the letter confirmed their joining today to this request, which they said has become urgent in light of the new information that has emerged during the past weeks.

A spokesman for the White House National Security Council said the United States was not conducting a formal investigation, "but urged the two sides to share evidence."

"We expect full accountability of those responsible," he added.

As for the Israeli embassy, ​​it said that Israel had conducted a comprehensive investigation and "continues to call for an investigation with the United States as an observer."

And in late May, the Palestinian Authority said that its investigations showed that Sherine was shot by an Israeli soldier in what it described as premeditated murder.

It is noteworthy that press and official investigations, the latest of which was an investigation by Al-Jazeera network, confirmed that the bullet that killed Shireen was fired from a sniper weapon in the Israeli occupation forces.

Al-Jazeera published a picture of the bullet with which the late colleague was assassinated, and an investigation by the network said that the bullet came from an M4 rifle.

The investigation indicated that the bullet was 5.56 mm caliber used by the occupation forces, explaining that the bullet was deformed after it entered Shireen's head and hit the helmet she was wearing.