Palestine/Israel: A year since the brutal murder of Shireen Abu Akleh, justice is yet to be served, while Israeli strikes kill more civilians in Gaza

Palestinians walk in front of a mural for Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh in the West Bank city of Bethlehem, 16 May 2022. EPA-EFE/ABED AL HASHLAMOUN

11 May: PEN International reiterates its call for justice and accountability over the brutal murder of veteran Palestinian-American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh by Israeli soldiers while doing her job. We join calls to end the deadly pattern of impunity over the killing of journalists by members of the Israel Défense Forces (IDF).

PEN International also calls for an immediate halt to all hostilities in Gaza and Israel and reminds all parties that attacks on civilians and those not taking an active part in hostilities are strictly forbidden and may constitute war crimes. We renew our call on the ICC prosecutor to include the 2021 attacks on media offices and cultural institutions in Gaza, and other attacks that resulted in civilian casualties or extensive destruction of civilian infrastructure, including the current ones, in her investigation with respect to the situation in Palestine.

Although today marks a year since Israeli soldiers killed veteran Aljazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh while she was reporting on an Israeli military raid in the occupied West Bank, Israeli authorities have failed to investigate her murder. Despite numerous calls from international organisations, including PEN International, for a prompt, thorough, and independent investigation into her murder and the IDF announcement that they identified the soldier who may have shot her, those responsible for Shireen Abu Akleh’s death are yet to be brought to justice. Israeli authorities are notorious for their excessive use of force and systematic killings of Palestinians, including journalists, with complete impunity in the OPT and Israel.

The anniversary of Abu Akleh’s murder coincides with renewed air strikes campaign on the Gaza Strip, which have resulted in dozens of civilian casualties, including women and children. The strikes came in the context of renewed fighting between Israel and Palestinian groups following the death-in-custody of Palestinian hunger striker Khader Adnan on 2 May, who has been in and out of Israeli prisons over the last two decades. According to Amnesty International, Adnan had been arrested 13 times by Israeli authorities and spent eight years in detention, including nearly six years in administrative detention without charge or trial since 2004.

For more information, please contact Mina Thabet, Head of the MENA Region, at PEN International, email: Mina.Thabet@pen-international.org