Report: EU drops calls for ‘independent’ probe into Shireen Abu Akleh shooting death

Brussels (QNN)- European Union countries are planning to drop calls for an “independent” inquiry into the shooting death of Palestinian-American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh in a meeting with Israeli occupation prime minister Yair Lapid next month.

In an original wording proposed by the EU foreign service, the EU had aimed to say in its declaration accompanying the event, called an Association Council, “The EU reiterates its call for a thorough and independent investigation that clarifies all the circumstances of Shireen Abu Akleh’s death, and that brings those responsible for her killing to justice.”

However, a new version of the draft, according to an excerpt seen by EUobserver on Monday, struck out the key word “independent” and watered down language on any probe’s executive mandate.

“The EU reiterates its call for a thorough investigation that clarifies all the circumstances that led to Shireen Abu Akleh’s death, and that those responsible are brought to justice,” the new EU text says.

Despite wearing a protective helmet and blue bulletproof vest clearly marked as “PRESS,” the 51-year-old veteran journalist was shot and killed by Israeli forces in the head while she was covering an Israeli military raid into the Jenin refugee camp on May 11, sparking international outrage and calls for accountability for attacks on journalists. The slain journalist covered events and Israeli aggressions in the occupied Palestinian territory for 25 years.

Multiple witnesses said that Israeli forces killed the journalist. Reports by the investigative group Bellingcat, The Associated Press, CNN, The Washington Post and The New York Times have also come to the same conclusion.

On June 24, the UN’s OHCHR also announced that information it had gathered showed that the bullets that killed Abu Akleh were fired by Israeli forces. Spokesperson for the UN’s OHCHR, Ravina Shamdasani, told reporters in Geneva, “All information we have gathered is consistent with the finding that the shots that killed Abu Akleh and injured her colleague Ali Sammoudi came from Israeli security forces and not from indiscriminate firing by armed Palestinians.”

The CNN investigation in May said evidence suggests that the veteran journalist was killed in a “targeted attack by Israeli forces”.

A probe by the Palestinian Authority found that Abu Akleh was deliberately shot by Israeli forces.

On Tuesday, a new report concluded that Abu Akleh deliberately and repeatedly targeted, along with her colleagues, despite being clearly identified as a member of the press.

The new report, a collaboration between Palestinian human rights group Al-Haq and the U.K.-based research agency Forensic Architecture, clearly showed that there were neither armed Palestinians nor shots fired in the minutes leading up to Abu Akleh’s killing. Instead, the reconstruction showed that Abu Akleh’s and her colleagues’ “PRESS” insignia was clearly visible from the position of the Israeli forces’s shooter; that the shooter had a “clear line of fire,” indicating “precise aim”; and that the firing continued as the journalists sought shelter.

EU foreign-affairs chief Josep Borrell and US secretary of state Antony Blinken both called for an “independent” probe in earlier statements. Borrell repeated the call in remarks to MEPs last week and US Democratic senators are still urging for an outside investigation.

Some 43 MEPs have also nominated Abu Akleh for the EU Parliament’s ‘Sakharov Prize’ (a human-rights award) this year.

“Israel killed Shireen Abu Akleh, they lied about what happened, they tried to manipulate public opinion to make them believe that a Palestinian could have killed her,” Sabri Saidam, a senior official in Palestine’s ruling Fatah party and former education minister, told EUobserver from Ramalah.

“And then someone in Brussels is willing to claim that they can investigate themselves?”, he added, referring to the watered-down EU text.

The final wording of the EU declaration is to be agreed in Brussels on Wednesday, according to the EUobserver.

The Association Council will see Lapid, who is also Israeli occupation’s foreign minister, meet top EU officials in the first high-level event of its type since 2012.

It was due to take place in Brussels in early October, but the date and venue might change if the EU also invites him to an informal summit of EU leaders to be held in Prague on 6 October.

The spokesmen of EU Council president Charles Michel and Czech prime minister Petr Fiala declined to confirm or deny if Lapid had been asked to come to the summit.