WASHINGTON (Al Jazeera) – Family members of slain
Palestinian journalist Shireen Abu Akleh has met with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken to renew demands related to her killing during a Zionist raid in the occupied West Bank.
Lina Abu Akleh, the veteran reporter’s niece, said on Tuesday afternoon that she and other members of her family were in Washington and met with Blinken.
U.S. State Department spokesperson Ned Price confirmed the meeting during a news conference on Tuesday afternoon, saying that Blinken was meeting the family and would reiterate the need for accountability.
“Part of this meeting is providing the secretary an opportunity to convey messages to them – it will be a message of condolence. There will be a message of the priority we attach to accountability going forward,” Price said.
“But this offers also equally an opportunity for the secretary to hear from the family, to hear their important perspective, to have a dialogue back and forth.”
“Although he made some commitments on Shireen’s killing, we’re still waiting to see if this administration will meaningfully answer our calls for #JusticeForShireen,” she wrote on Twitter after meeting Blinken.
Lina also reiterated that the family wanted a meeting with President Joe Biden, which she said would show “Shireen’s case is a priority for this administration”.
Shireen Abu Akleh was killed on 11 May during a Zionist raid in the town of Jenin in the occupied West Bank.
The State Department concluded earlier this month that gunfire from Zionist troops’ positions “was likely responsible for the death of Shireen Abu Akleh”.
Despite multiple investigations by independent media outlets concluding that Abu Akleh was killed by Zionist troops, the State Department’s statement said the investigation was “inconclusive”.
Eyewitness accounts, including from Middle East Eye contributor Shatha Hanaysha, stated that Abu Akleh was killed by Zionist fire.
The U.S. assessment was condemned by both the family as well as Palestinian activists, who accused the administration of trying to bury the truth of her killing.