A new documentary has been released online claiming to have revealed the name of the Israeli soldier responsible for the shooting of Al Jazeera correspondent Shireen Abu Akure.
Abu Akure, a Palestinian American who had been with Al Jazeera since 1997, was killed while reporting in May 2022 by Jenin on the West Bank.
Shortly after her death, Israeli officials and the media suggested that she had been killed in a Palestinian shooting.
However, subsequent reports from human rights groups and press organizations acknowledged that the Palestinian fighter jets initially criticised by Israel were somewhat separated from the killing of Abu Akure, and in September Israel had a “high probability” of killing “accidentally” by accident.
Contributor to the documentary, who killed Syreen? The murder of Abu Akure, released by Zeteo on Thursday, suggested that it created a further sense of immunity among Israeli soldiers.
Four key points from the survey are as follows:
The Biden administration knew Israel was responsible for the murder of Abu Akure
According to numerous testimonies featured in the film, officials within the Biden administration suspected that Abu Akle had been shot by Israeli soldiers, but continued to support Israel’s claims that he had been killed by Palestinians.
The filmmakers also allege that Abu Akure was informed within hours of Abu Akure’s murder that one of his soldiers likely shot her, as U.S. officials were responsible for the West Bank chief.
Nevertheless, US officials continued to support public Israeli accounts of Abu Akure’s murder, which sought to change the accusation. And when Israel publicly acknowledged the possibility of one of its soldiers being responsible, it publicly admitted that the killing was not intentional.
US officials have not publicly challenged the story, saying they can’t instead determine whether the crime was committed without access to a shooter who Israel refuses to allow.
We refused to take the issue further
Speaking to reporter Dion Nissenbaum, one anonymous staff member within President Joe Biden’s former administration said officials refused to push the Israeli regime by killing one of their citizens for fear of “angering (invading) the Israeli government.”
This is according to the same sources that despite officials’ conclusions, the murder of Abu Akure was a deliberate act.
Eyal Hulata, a documentary who was Israel’s national security adviser, defended Israel’s decision not to release suspicious soldiers to question the United States, saying that Israel has “a very good and reliable investigation mechanism.”
When asked if he remembers the subject of the murder of US journalists that took place during the discussion between then-Israel Prime Minister Biden and Naftali Bennett, Hulala replied, “This was not a topic between the prime minister and the president.”
Further demand from the Biden administration to change the rules of engagement that Israel felt led to Abu Akure’s death was “brush-off,” according to one interviewee.
The Biden administration’s failure to force Israel to bring about change in rules of involvement after the murder of Abu Akure was committed, Sen. Chris Van Hollen told filmmakers that he contributed to “the deaths of other Americans and other civilians.”
Soldier accused of killing Abu Akure is now dead
The film reports that Abu Akle was killed by Aron Skagio, a sniper in the Israeli military’s elite “Duvdevan” squadron, according to soldiers operating that day.
Despite his clear identity as a media member regarding his reaction to killing a journalist, Scagio’s friend says he “remembers nothing special” about Abu Akleh’s murder.
According to a survey by the filmmaker, Scagio has been transferred from Duvdevan to the position of commander of another unit, resulting in him being distant from the investigation. As a result, the filmmakers speculate that they killed Abu Akleh.
Scagio was killed in a roadside bomb in Jenin, the same west coast city that has been accused of killing Abu Akleh in June 2024.
As a result of the fallout caused by the murder of Abu Akure, Skagio’s friends claim that the Duvdevan unit took the use of her image for target practice.
The US government’s support for Israel is unwavering
The murder of Abu Akure occurred at the time when it was considered a fierce stage of Israel’s attacks on the occupied West Bank. She was one of at least 145 Palestinians killed during the 2022 attack.
But since then, Israel has only stepped up violence in both the West Bank and Gaza.
Israel has killed more than 52,000 Palestinians since launching the war with Gaza in October 2023, destroying territory, rejecting food entrances since March, and starving locals.
And on the West Bank, Israel increased the severity of the attack, using heavy weapons and air attacks to drive Palestinians out of their homes. More than 900 Palestinians were killed there.
Nevertheless, the United States maintains Israeli support under both former President Joe Biden and current President Donald Trump.
At the United Nations, the United States votes regularly with Israel, but the majority of member states are trying to use international organizations to pressure Israel to stop it. The United States then threatened the International Criminal Court that it was attempting to arrest Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for committing a war crime.
So, it’s probably not surprising, despite Abu Akure being a journalist and American citizen who works when she was killed, the US wanted to see the opposite.