New documentary claims to identify Israeli soldier who shot Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh in 2022
Additionally, the film alleges that while the Biden administration had initially concluded an Israeli soldier intentionally shot at Abu Akleh, despite the fact she was identifiable as media, it publicly declared that there was 'no reason to believe' her killing was 'intentional.'
The documentary, produced by independent news outlet Zeteo and titled 'Who Killed Shireen?,' follows former Wall Street Journal Middle East reporter Dion Nissenbaum and longtime foreign correspondent Conor Powell as they and fellow journalists seek to figure out who killed Abu Akleh and how the Biden administration handled the investigation into her killing.
Abu Akleh, a Palestinian journalist with US citizenship, was a well-known and respected correspondent for Al Jazeera. She was shot while covering an Israeli military operation targeting militants in Jenin in May 2022. When she was killed, she was wearing protective gear identifying her as a member of the press.
In the immediate aftermath of her death, Israeli officials suggested crossfire from Palestinian militants fighting with Israeli soldiers nearby could have been to blame. Shortly thereafter, however, investigations by CNN and other outlets found that the only militants in the area could not have reached Abu Akleh from where they stood when she was killed. CNN further concluded that she was killed in a targeted attack, based on eyewitness statements and analysis from audio forensic and explosive weapons experts.
The Israel Defense Forces eventually said there was a 'high possibility' Abu Akleh was killed by Israeli fire, but said they would not charge any soldiers as there 'was no suspicion that a bullet was fired deliberately' at anyone identified as a journalist and the soldier thought he was shooting at militants who were firing upon him. An Israeli military spokesperson later apologized for the journalist's death and said the soldier responsible 'did not do this on purpose.'
But one subject interviewed for the documentary, identified only as a 'key Biden administration official,' says that based on where the soldiers and the reporters were located at the time, 'it was an indication that it was an intentional killing' and that the soldier would have been able to clearly see Abu Akleh was a noncombatant.
'Whether or not they knew it was her or not, can very well be debated, but they would have absolutely known that it was a media person or a noncombatant at a minimum,' the anonymous Biden administration official states. 'Absolutely knew that it was non-combatant, and every indication was that it was media. It was clear within all optics from that distance and location and the visual capabilities of that day.'
The documentary does not detail how the official knows this information, although a source close to the documentary told CNN the official had 'direct knowledge' of the Biden administration's internal assessments of Abu Akleh's death.
As for who fired the fatal shots, an unidentified Israeli soldier interviewed in the documentary, who said he served alongside the soldier responsible for the slaying, identified the soldier by name and said he was a member of an elite commando unit called Duvdevan. (Because CNN has not been able to verify the reporting, we are not naming the soldier.)
'When you open the corner and you have this second to take a decision, to take a shot and you see someone who hold a camera or something that, you know, point at you, you don't need more than that to shoot the bullet,' the anonymous soldier says in the documentary.
The soldier identified as Abu Akleh's killer 'wasn't happy' to discover he killed a journalist, the fellow soldier says, but 'he wasn't like, you know, eating himself from the inside, like thinking about, 'Oh, what have I done,' or something like that.'
Abu Akleh's alleged shooter was later killed by an explosive device buried in the road during a June 2024 military operation in Jenin, the documentary notes. His family has said in interviews with Israeli media that he died while rescuing military medics, who'd been injured by a separate explosion allegedly planted by Palestinian militants.
Reached for comment, the IDF said 'Zeteo has decided to publish the name of the IDF soldier who fell during an operational activity, despite the family's request not to publish the name, and even though they were told that there is no definitive determination regarding the identity of the individual responsible for the shooting that caused the journalist's death. The IDF shares in the family's grief and continues to support them.'
A State Department investigation into Abu Akleh's death, released in July 2022, found that the IDF was 'likely responsible' for the shooting, but that there was 'no reason to believe' the soldier intentionally targeted her.
However, the unidentified Biden administration official alleges in the documentary that despite those findings, the administration's assessment was ultimately publicly presented as the shooting having been 'a tragic accident versus being an intentional killing of the individual.' He alleges the alteration was made because of 'pressure within the administration to not try and anger the government of Israel too much by trying to force their hand at saying that they'd intentionally killed a US citizen.'
The State Department did not respond to a request for comment. The Department of Justice, which was reportedly working on its own investigation, declined to comment.
Since Abu Akleh's death, the situation on the ground in the region for reporters has changed dramatically. In May 2024, Al Jazeera was officially banned from Israel and the West Bank, with its offices in Ramallah at one point sealed shut by the IDF.
In Gaza, press watchdog groups say at least 175 reporters, photographers, producers and other journalists have been killed since Israel began its military campaign following Hamas's October 7, 2023, attacks on Israel.
In some cases, Israel has claimed that the journalists killed were working with militant groups. Nevertheless, the war in Gaza has become the deadliest conflict on record for members of the media.
In the documentary, Democratic Sen. Chris Van Hollen of Maryland, who has long advocated for more accountability following Abu Akleh's death, said he believes 'if the US had been more effective and more forceful in insisting that the rules of engagement changed after the killing of Shireen Abu Akleh,' then further civilian deaths could have been avoided.
Abu Akleh's family echoed that sentiment in a statement to CNN: 'Our calls for justice have never been about one individual soldier, but rather for the entire chain of command—those who gave the orders, those who covered it up, and those who continue to deny responsibility — be held to account for the killing of Shireen Abu Akleh on May 11, 2022 . Only then can there be any hope for real closure, not just for Shireen, but for every journalist and family seeking truth.
'Regardless if the soldier's identity is known or whether he is dead or alive doesn't change the fact that Shireen was intentionally targeted and killed, and that happened within a system that enables impunity.'
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