Secretary of State Tony Blinken asked Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz for the review after the killing of Palestinian American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh

Israeli soldiers in Hebron on Aug. 19. Photo: Hazem Bader/AFP via Getty Images

Barak Ravid, Axios, Sep 7, 2022

Israel on Wednesday rejected the U.S. call for it to review the Israel Defense Forces' rules of engagement in the West Bank as part of accountability steps for the killing of Palestinian American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh.

Driving the news: State Department deputy spokesperson Vedant Patel said on Tuesday that the Biden administration will continue to press Israel “to closely review its policies and practices on rules of engagement” of the IDF in the occupied West Bank.

• He said this is needed in order “to mitigate the risk of civilian harm, protect journalists and prevent similar tragedies."

Between the lines: U.S. pressure for Israel to review the guidelines, which define the circumstances under which Israeli soldiers can use live fire in the West Bank, is unusual. Patel's comments were the first time the Biden administration raised this issue in public after discussing it in private in recent weeks.

• After meeting with Abu Akleh's family in late July, Secretary of State Tony Blinken called Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz and asked for a review of the IDF rules of engagement in the West Bank, saying it would be a step toward accountability in the Abu Akleh case.
• Blinken told Gantz he thinks that either the rules of engagement weren't followed or they need to be reviewed if an Israeli soldier shot Abu Akleh while she wore a bulletproof vest that was marked "press."

State of play: Patel's comments on Tuesday came a day after Israel published the final conclusions of its investigation into the death of Abu Akleh, who was killed while covering an Israeli military raid in the occupied West Bank city of Jenin.

• The investigation determined Abu Akleh was most likely killed by "unintentional fire" from an Israeli soldier who did not realize she was a journalist, a senior IDF official told reporters.
• The senior IDF official said that the investigation found there was no violation of the rules of engagement and no problem in the briefing the soldiers received before the Jenin raid.

What they're saying: Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid expressed "sorrow" over Abu Akleh's death on Wednesday but said "no one will dictate our rules of engagement to us, when we are the ones fighting for our lives."

• Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz said that the "IDF’s chief of the general staff, and he alone, determines, and will continue to determine the rules of engagement in accordance with our operational needs and values of the IDF."

• "These instructions are implemented in a strict manner by soldiers and their commanders. There has not been, and there will not be any political involvement in the matter," Gantz said.

Another senior Israeli official told Axios that "the rules of engagement were reviewed as part of the IDF investigation and it was found that there were no violations. Nobody is going to change the rules of engagement because of U.S. political pressure."

• Israeli officials believe the U.S. call for reviewing the rules of engagement is an attempt to respond to pressure by U.S. progressives who have demanded an independent U.S. investigation — something the Biden administration can’t and doesn’t want to do, the Israeli official said. The State Department did not respond to a request for comment.
• "The Biden administration is not really pressing us because they understand we are not going to change the rules of engagement," the official added. "We told them our position before and after their public statement on this issue."

Yellow tape marks bullet holes on a tree and a portrait and flowers create a makeshift memorial at the site where Palestinian-American Al-Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh was shot and killed in the West Bank city of Jenin, May 19, 2022. The Israeli military acknowledged for the first time today that one of its soldiers likely killed Shireen Abu Akleh, saying its own investigation shows she was shot by mistake and that no one will face punishment. (AP Photo/Majdi Mohammed)

JOSEF FEDERMAN, Associated Press, September 5, 2022

JERUSALEM (AP) — The Israeli military on Monday announced the long-awaited results of its investigation into the deadly shooting of Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh, saying there was a “high probability” an Israeli soldier had mistakenly killed her during a raid in the occupied West Bank last May.

It was the closest that Israel has come to accepting responsibility for the shooting. But in a report that seemed to raise as many questions as it sought to answer, the military revealed no new evidence to back its claim that the Palestinian-American journalist might have been killed by Palestinian gunmen during a battle with Israel troops and Palestinian gunmen. It also said that no one would be punished for the shooting.

The conclusions were unlikely to put to rest an issue that has worsened what already were badly strained relations between Israel and the Palestinians. Both Palestinian officials and Abu Akleh’s family accused the army of evading responsibility for her killing.

“Our family is not surprised by this outcome since it’s obvious to anyone that Israeli war criminals cannot investigate their own crimes. However, we remain deeply hurt, frustrated and disappointed,” her family said in a statement.

Abu Akleh, a 51-year-old Palestinian-American, was killed while covering an Israeli raid in the Jenin refugee camp in the northern West Bank on May 11. She had covered the West Bank for Al Jazeera for two decades and was a well-known face across the Arab world.

In a briefing with reporters, a senior Israeli military official said there was a “very high likelihood” that Abu Akleh was mistakenly shot by an Israeli soldier positioned inside an armored vehicle who thought he was aiming at a militant.

“He misidentified her,” the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity under military briefing guidelines. “His reports in real time… absolutely point to a misidentification.”

“We know that he fired, but it could very well be that this happened from other fire,” he added.

Jenin is known as a bastion of Palestinian militants, and Israel has carried out raids there almost nightly since a string of deadly attacks inside Israel earlier this year, some of which were carried out by assailants from the area.

Repeating previous Israeli claims, the military official said the soldiers had been under continuous fire for almost an hour from multiple directions before Abu Akleh was shot. The army released several videos showing Palestinian militants firing automatic weapons and soldiers coming under fire that day.

But the military provided no evidence to support its claim that a fierce gunbattle was under way at the time that Abu Akleh was shot. Amateur videos as well as witness accounts have shown no evidence of militants in the vicinity and the area appeared to be quiet for several minutes before she was shot.

It also was unclear how Abu Akleh, who was wearing a helmet and vest marked “press” at the time, could be mistaken for a militant. The official only said that the soldier’s vision from inside the vehicle was “very limited,” causing Abu Akleh to be misidentified in a split-second decision.

He said the findings of the investigation had been turned over to the chief military prosecutor, who was satisfied with them and decided against a criminal investigation. That means no one will be charged in her death.

Critics have long accused the military of doing a poor job of investigating wrongdoing by its troops. The Israeli human rights group B’Tselem accused the army of carrying out a “whitewash,” while Abu Akleh’s family and the Palestinian Authority both called for the case to be turned over to the International Criminal Court in the Hague. The ICC has opened an investigation into possible war crimes by Israel in both Gaza and the West Bank.

Nabil Abu Rdeneh, spokesman for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, dismissed the announcement as “another Israeli attempt to evade responsibility for her killing.”

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