WASHINGTON (Dispatches) – The family of Shireen Abu Akleh has rebuked the Zionist regime for saying it is “sorry” for the Palestinian reporter’s death without providing accountability or even acknowledging that its forces killed her.
Speaking outside the United States Capitol in Washington, DC, Abu Akleh’s niece, Lina Abu Akleh, said the Zionist regime’s statement does not amount to an apology.
“To be very clear: The Israeli army did not admit to or apologize for murdering Shireen. To us, we don’t consider that an apology,” Lina said. “It’s honestly a slap in the face to Shireen’s legacy and to our family. An apology — which that was not — is not accountability.”
On May 11, the first anniversary of Abu Akleh’s shooting death, an Israeli army spokesperson was asked by CNN whether the military was “ready” to apologize.
“I think it’s an opportunity for me to say here that we are very sorry of the death of the late Shireen Abu Akleh,” the spokesperson, Daniel Hagari, responded.
On Thursday, Lina and other family members said the slain journalist’s relatives are seeking accountability, which “requires action”.
“From the moment that Shireen was killed, the Israeli regime and the military have lied and distorted the truth,” she told reporters. “So it is deeply upsetting that, on the one-year anniversary of Shireen’s killing, the Israeli military — once again — they re-victimized the family.”
The slain journalist’s nephew, Victor Abu Akleh, and her cousin, Jennifer Zacharia, also spoke at a news conference calling for accountability on Thursday.
The late Abu Akleh, a U.S. citizen, was killed on May 11, 2022, while covering a raid by Zionist troops on the occupied West Bank city of Jenin. At first, Zionist regime officials falsely accused Palestinian gunmen of fatally shooting the veteran reporter, who was renowned across the Arab World.
Months after the killing, the occupying regime acknowledged that one of its soldiers likely killed Abu Akleh but dismissed the incident as unintentional. The occupying regime did not open a criminal probe into the killing.
Numerous media outlets, rights groups and eyewitnesses have documented that there was no fighting in the immediate vicinity where Abu Akleh was shot.
Still, the U.S. — which provides the occupying regime with at least $3.8bn in aid annually — has accepted the Zionist regime’s version of the events despite initial calls for accountability and for an independent investigation.