Shortly after dawn on May 11, a longtime Palestinian-American journalist was shot dead in the West Bank as she reported on an Israeli Defense Forces raid.
A reporter for Al Jazeera, Shireen Abu Akleh was a household name on matters involving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. On May 11, she was reporting from Jenin, a densely populated city on the West Bank’s northern edge. A longtime operational and command center for Palestinian terrorist groups, Jenin has a tradition of fierce clashes between the IDF and Palestinian groups. In 2002, an IDF unit was nearly annihilated in an ambush in a city alley.
But who killed Abu Akleh — and why?
The State Department has accepted the Israeli government’s implication, following weeks of hesitation, that Abu Akleh was likely killed by a bullet fired by an IDF soldier. On Monday, the State Department stated that it had “found no reason to believe that this was intentional but rather the result of tragic circumstances during an IDF-led military operation against factions of Palestinian Islamic Jihad.” A New York Times investigation also strongly indicates that Israeli fire was responsible for Abu Akleh’s death. Israel has admitted that its forces fired during the time and space where Abu Akleh was hit.
Things are murkier beyond this point.
Abu Akleh was killed by a wound to the head from a 5.56×45mm round typical of weapons used by the IDF. But this alone doesn’t prove anything. Both the Palestinian Islamic Jihad and an Iranian-supervised offshoot, the Sabireen Movement, retain Western rifles that use 5.56 rounds. This sets them apart from other global terrorist groups that tend to use the AK-47 rifle and its 7.62 x 39mm rounds.
Also complicating matters is the Palestinian Authority’s conduct during the immediate weeks following Abu Akleh’s death. Refusing Israeli requests to provide the bullet for examination, the Palestinian Authority also rejected Israeli offers to conduct a joint investigation of the incident.
Yet questions remain. While there was an exchange of gunfire between Palestinian and Israeli forces earlier in the morning preceding Abu Akleh’s death, it remains unclear why the IDF opened fire on her particular group. The raid had been completed at this point, and the Israeli unit that appears to have fired on Abu Akleh was providing cordon security. Video footage of the minutes preceding the shooting indicates there was no gunfire from the immediate area of Abu Akleh’s group and the IDF. That said, the IDF had come under fire earlier that morning and had reason to be on guard. The Palestinian Islamic Jihad’s long-standing use of civilian human shields is also noteworthy. And a video of the shooting also shows a number of fighting-age men without visible blue jacket “press” media identifiers in close proximity to Abu Akleh. Finally, the first gunshots only occurred after Abu Akleh’s group began walking toward the IDF position.
Nevertheless, Abu Akleh’s group were all wearing clearly visible (at least at close range) blue jackets. The Israeli decision to open fire thus seems questionable. IDF use-of-force protocols are tightly controlled so as to limit civilian losses. This is particularly true in situations where journalists are working close to IDF operations. Israel recognizes that it must prioritize the avoidance of negative international political fallout of the kind that follows incidents such as Abu Akleh’s death.
In short, it appears likely that Abu Akleh died because an IDF soldier made an impulse decision to fire at a group that he believed was hostile. But questions should be asked as to what the IDF commanders knew and whether the gunshots were specifically ordered. And when he visits the West Bank later this month, President Joe Biden should demand an explanation for the Palestinian Authority’s refusal to cooperate earlier in the investigation.
