Meeting With The US Secretary Of State Antony Blinken, Family Demands Justice In Murder Of Journalist Shireen Abu Akleh

Demonstration demanding justice for the death of Shireen Abu Akleh. (Wikimedia Commons/Alisdare Hickson)

JAKARTA - The family of Palestinian-American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh met US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Tuesday to demand justice for the killing of an Al Jazeera reporter during an Israeli offensive in the occupied West Bank.

US State Department spokesman Ned Price said at a regular news briefing that Secretary of State Blinken met with families in the department and would reaffirm the need for accountability.

Shireen Abu Akleh, a senior Al Jazeera journalist, was killed on May 11 in an Israeli raid on the city of Jenin in the occupied West Bank.

The US State Department said this month that Abu Akleh was likely killed by gunfire from an Israeli army position, but that it may not have been intentional, citing an investigation by the US Security Coordinator.

Abu Akleh's family and Palestinian officials have criticized the US report and said he was deliberately targeted. Meanwhile, the Israeli side denies this.

Lina Abu Akleh, Shireen Abu Akleh's niece, wrote in a post on Twitter after Tuesday's meeting that family members wanted to meet President Joe Biden in person. That anything from the US investigation leads to accountability is unacceptable.

"Even though he made several commitments over Shireen's assassination, we are still waiting to see if this administration will answer our call for #JusticeForShireen," she wrote of the meeting with Blinken.

Separately, Washington is focused on ensuring investigations by Israel and the Palestinian Authority into the killings are thorough, complete, transparent and end in accountability, Price said during a Tuesday briefing.

Price said the United States wanted to see accountability in a timely manner in the case, but declined to provide a timeframe for the investigation to conclude.

The family accused the United States of granting impunity to Israel for his murder. They failed to request a private meeting with Biden during his trip to Israel this month.

"We will hold him accountable for his murder wherever it takes us," said a statement on Twitter from Lina, Shireen's brother Tony and Victor's nephew."

Shireen lives to uncover the truth behind every story, and so do we."