US Wants Accountability For Abu Akleh's Death, White House: She Is An American Citizen

US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan during a press briefing at the White House. (Wikimedia Commons/The White House)

JAKARTA - The United States is calling for accountability for the death of Palestinian-American Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh, who was shot and killed during a raid by Israeli troops in Jenin, the West Bank.

Washington had previously concluded Shireen Abu Akleh may have been hit by an Israeli bullet and said there was no reason to believe it was intentional.

Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One on the sidelines of President Joe Biden's visit to Israel on Wednesday, US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan reiterated that position, but said Washington did not consider the case over.

"The government, at the direction of the president, has been very involved in helping try to determine what really happened around the tragic circumstances of his death," he said, citing Reuters, July 14.

"There has to be an effort to be made to take responsibility and ensure that we find a way to conclude this chapter fairly. This is someone who is a journalist, an American citizen. The president, the secretary of state, the entire team are mourning this incident for the family," Sullivan said.

Sullivan said Secretary of State Antony Blinken had spoken to the family and invited them to a meeting in Washington.

Abu Akleh, a Palestinian-American journalist working for the Al Jazeera network, was shot in the head on May 11 while reporting on an Israeli attack on the city of Jenin in the occupied West Bank.

Meanwhile, Anton Abu Akleh, brother of the slain journalist, told Al Jazeera on Wednesday that he welcomed Blinken's invitation.

"We hope the US government will correct the previous report and issue a new one based on the facts," he hoped.

As previously reported, Israel said Palestinian gunmen clashed with its troops at the site of Abu Akleh's death, making it difficult to determine the exact circumstances, but its troops did not shoot him on purpose.

A review of the incident by the UN human rights office lends support to the testimony that Abu Akleh was killed by Israeli gunfire.

Palestinians said a gunshot wound to his head and other evidence suggested he was deliberately targeted. They have promised to take the case to the International Criminal Court.

They believe she was killed on purpose by Israeli troops. Israel denies its soldiers shot her on purpose, and says she may have been killed by mistaken army fire or gunfire fired by a Palestinian gunman.

After leaving Israel, President Biden plans to go to the West Bank, to meet Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. It will be the first between a US President and a Palestinian leader since the Barack Obama Administration.