Four years since veteran Palestinian-American journalist and IPI-IMS World Press Freedom Hero Shireen Abu Akleh was killed by Israeli forces in the West Bank, progress toward justice for this crime against the press has stalled, adding further fuel to what has become a global crisis of impunity for attacks on journalists.
Marking the anniversary of her killing, the International Press Institute (IPI) calls upon the international community to exercise the political will necessary to tackle rampant impunity for killings of journalists and repeats our urgent call on the U.S. government to conduct and ensure a full, credible, and independent investigation into Abu Akleh’s killing, and hold those responsible accountable.
On May 11, 2022, Abu Akleh was fatally shot in the head while reporting on an Israeli military raid on the Jenin refugee camp in the occupied West Bank for Al Jazeera. Her producer, Al Jazeera journalist Ali al-Samoudi, was also wounded during the incident. At the time of her death, Abu Akleh was among a group of reporters and was wearing a vest clearly marked PRESS.
Her killing cut short a two-decades-long career reporting in and about Palestine. At the time of her death, Abu Akleh had become a household name and a trusted voice to her audience across the Arab world.
“In the four years since Shireen’s murder, the glaring lack of accountability for those responsible for her killing has put journalists at risk everywhere,” said IPI Executive Director Scott Griffen. “The failure of the international community to hold Israel accountable has opened the door yet wider for emboldened attacks on journalists, and is further fuelling a global crisis of impunity for crimes against the press.”
Investigations ignored, stalled
Multiple independent investigations conducted by The Associated Press, CNN, Forensic Architecture, The New York Times, The Washington Post, and Bellingcat in the weeks after Abu Akleh’s death concluded she was killed by a bullet fired by a member of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). Several of the investigations further determined she had been intentionally targeted, refuting IDF claims that there were active combatants near the area Abu Akleh was reporting in.
In July 2022, the U.S. State Department delivered a three-paragraph assessment finding that Israeli fire was “likely responsible” for Abu Akleh’s death, but that the bullet was too “badly damaged” to say conclusively.
Two months after the State Department finding, the IDF reversed its previous denials of responsibility for the killing, admitting there was a “high possibility” that Israeli fire had caused Abu Akleh’s death, but that it would not pursue charges against the responsible soldier.
In November 2022, in response to continued pressure from Abu Akleh’s family, members of Congress, and the press freedom community, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) opened an investigation into Abu Akleh’s death. No progress or updates have been released since this initial announcement.
Last year, the New York Times released previously unreported details about the State Department investigation into Abu Akleh’s death: several of the U.S. officials closely involved in the investigation strongly disagreed with the 2022 assessment, and believed Abu Akleh’s killing had been intentional.
A lack of justice, further killings
The assassination of Abu Akleh exposed a broader pattern of Israeli killings of journalists that existed long before her death and has only accelerated since.
In the two decades prior to Abu Akleh’s May 2022 killing, more than 20 Palestinian journalists had been killed by the IDF. Since her killing, and the beginning of the Israel-Hamas war on October 7, 2023, Israel has ramped up its killings of journalists: more than 250 have been killed during the conflict, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists, including numerous targeted killings. Despite a ceasefire, killings of journalists in Gaza have continued, while Israel has now begun targeting journalists during a separate conflict with Lebanon.
Under international law, states are obligated to investigate and prosecute attacks on journalists promptly, thoroughly, and independently, in peacetime and wartime. Further, the deliberate targeting of journalists, as civilians, are considered war crimes under international humanitarian law.
The total impunity for the killings of journalists by Israel represents a dangerous breakdown of international law and rules of war — and sends a clear signal that journalists anywhere in the world can be targeted and killed without repercussions, and the international community will do little or nothing to stop it.
A 2024 UNESCO report found that the impunity rate for killings of journalists worldwide is 85% — a statistic that has remained unchanged for more than ten years.
“Four years of remembrance without justice are an insult to Shireen’s family, who have tirelessly pushed for the U.S. government to take action on her behalf,” Griffen continued. “Shireen was a U.S. citizen – in the past four years, both the Biden and Trump administrations have failed to uphold the U.S. government’s obligation to ensure accountability for her killing. We urgently call on the U.S. government and the international community to act now to bring Shireen’s killers to justice, and work to end the global crisis of impunity tragically represented by her killing.”