BEIRUT (Dispatches) – The United Nations said Friday that its findings showed that the shot that killed Palestinian journalist Shireen Abu Akleh on May 11 was fired by Zionist troops.
The Palestinian journalist, who was wearing a vest marked “Press” and a helmet, was killed on May 11 while covering an incursion by the Zionist regime in Jenin camp in the northern West Bank.
“We find that the shots that killed Abu Akleh came from Israeli security forces,” UN Human Rights Office spokeswoman Ravina Shamdasani told reporters in Geneva.
“It is deeply disturbing that Israeli authorities have not conducted a criminal investigation.
“We at the UN Human Rights Office have concluded our independent monitoring into the incident.
“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, as initially claimed by Israeli authorities,” she said.
Meanwhile, a group of 24 Democratic lawmakers at the U.S. states’ Senate demand that Washington investigate Abu Akleh’s murder.
The request came in a letter led by Senators Chris Van Hollen (Md.) and Tammy Baldwin (Wis.) and cosigned by 22 other Democrats, The Hill reported.
In their letter, which was forwarded to U.S. President Joe Biden on Thursday, the lawmakers urged the U.S. State Department and FBI to launch an “independent investigation under U.S. auspices to determine the truth” behind the murder.
“It is clear that neither of the parties on the ground trust the other to conduct a credible and independent investigation,” the senators wrote. “Therefore, at this point, we believe the only way to achieve that goal is for the United States to be directly involved in investigating Ms. Abu Akleh’s death.”
Earlier this month, an investigation by The Washington Post negated the Zionist regime’s efforts to deflect blame for Abu Akleh’s murder, while hinting at Tel Aviv’s bid to withhold vital evidence in the case.