Israel's killing of Abu Akleh was intentional, says lead US investigator

A retired US colonel involved in the investigation into the killing of Palestinian-American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh has said that it concluded she was deliberately shot by an Israeli soldier.

In an interview with American outlet Zeteo News, Steve Gabavics also accused the Biden administration of softening the findings to appease Israel.

Gabavics, who was a chief of staff at the Office of the United States Security Coordinator for Israel and the Palestinian Authority (USSC) at the time of Abu Akleh's killing, was tasked with investigating the shooting on behalf of the US government after the FBI declined to investigate.

He said that his "findings were beyond reasonable doubt" that Akleh's killing was "intentional".

Israeli forces shot and killed Abu Akleh during an Israeli raid on the city of Jenin in the occupied West Bank in May 2022. Her death sparked Palestinian outrage and widespread international condemnation.

An Israeli army investigation into Abu Akleh's killing concluded that she was probably shot by an Israeli soldier but was not deliberately targeted. But several independent investigations found that Abu Akleh and her colleagues were explicitly targeted despite being identifiable as members of the press.

Gabavics's assessment cited evidence that Israeli soldiers were aware that there were journalists in the area and that they would have been able to see Abu Akleh's blue "Press" vest. Furthermore, Gabavics said the precision of the shots that struck Abu Akleh's head did not suggest she was caught in chaotic crossfire.

The former colonel said he presented his findings within days of Abu Akleh's killing to General Michael Fenzel, who led the USSC liaison office at the time.

General Fenzel responded that he had spoken to Israeli central command commander General Yehuda Fox who informed him that an Israeli solider had accidentally fired at her, attributing her death to "tragic circumstances".

"That was the story he stuck to. He said, 'General Fox told me this, so I believe it was not intentional,'" Gabavics told Zeteo's Mehdi Hassan.

'The favouritism is always toward the Israelis. Very little of that goes to the Palestinians'

- Steve Gabavics, retired US colonel

When asked how he felt about General Fenzel taking the word of an Israeli official over his own assessment, Gabavics said he felt "very disappointed and upset" and that he "continued to try to convince him throughout the next two years".

His comments follow an interview with The New York Times, in which Gabavics publicly raised concerns for the first time about the State Department's statement on Abu Akleh's killing which deemed it to be unintentional.

Gabavics told The New York Times that he and three former officials at the office repeatedly tried to insert stronger language into the statement, which General Fenzel removed.

He said that he and his colleagues "were just flabbergasted that this is what they put out", and that it "continued to be on my conscience non-stop". 

“The favouritism is always toward the Israelis. Very little of that goes to the Palestinians,” Gabavics said of his time working at the USSC.

General Fenzel said in a statement to The New York Times that he "had to make judgements based on the full set of facts and information available to me".

“I stand by the integrity of our work and remain confident that we reached the right conclusions," he added.