UN says it has identified Israeli commander likely responsible for 2022 killing of reporter

The United Nations commission has disclosed that it has identified the Israeli commander and military unit likely responsible for the killing of Palestinian-American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh in the occupied West Bank last year.

Shireen Abu Akleh, a highly regarded Al Jazeera journalist, tragically lost her life while reporting on an early morning Israeli forces operation against militants in Jenin in May 2022.

Navi Pillay, the head of the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and Israel, stated on Tuesday that their investigation revealed that Israeli security forces had employed lethal force without justifiable cause under international human rights law, and had either intentionally or recklessly violated Shireen Abu Akleh’s right to life.

Through forensic analysis and expert testimony, the commission pointed to a soldier from the Israel Defense Forces’ Duvdevan unit as the likely source of the fatal shot.