US senators urged to act on Abu Akleh killing

 JournalismPakistan.com |  Published: 27 September 2026 |  JP Global Monitoring

CPJ and civil groups urged US senators to co-sponsor Senator Van Hollen's Section 502B(c) resolution to compel the State Department to report to Congress on alleged human rights abuses in the occupied West Bank, including the killing of Shireen Abu Akleh.

Summary

WASHINGTON — The Committee to Protect Journalists and other civil society groups have urged United States senators to support a resolution requiring the State Department to report to Congress on alleged human rights violations in the occupied West Bank, including the killing of Palestinian-American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh.

The groups called on senators to co-sponsor and vote for a privileged resolution introduced by Senator Chris Van Hollen under Section 502B(c). They said nine Americans had been killed in the West Bank by Israeli security forces or settlers since January 2022 without meaningful accountability from either the Israeli or US governments.

Four-year case returns to Congress

Abu Akleh, a veteran Al Jazeera correspondent, was shot dead on May 11, 2022, while covering an Israeli military operation in Jenin. She was wearing protective equipment clearly marked “PRESS.” A US review later concluded that gunfire from Israeli military positions was likely responsible but said forensic testing could not determine the bullet’s origin and found no reason to believe the shooting was intentional.

The Israeli military said in September 2022 that there was a high possibility Abu Akleh had been accidentally struck by Israeli fire directed at suspected Palestinian gunmen. It said the available evidence did not justify opening a Military Police criminal investigation. Abu Akleh’s family and press freedom organizations have continued to press for an independent and conclusive inquiry.

Resolution seeks formal US report

CPJ said the FBI reportedly opened an investigation in November 2022 but that no public finding had emerged nearly four years later. The coalition argued that Congress had a duty to demand answers when American journalists and other US citizens are killed abroad and to examine whether recipients of US security assistance are complying with human rights obligations.

The proposed resolution would not itself determine criminal responsibility for Abu Akleh’s death. Its immediate effect would be to compel a formal State Department assessment, giving senators an official record on which to consider oversight and future action.

The renewed push places a long-running press freedom case back before Congress at a time of intensified scrutiny of attacks on journalists in the Palestinian territories. For media organizations, the unresolved case has become a test of whether citizenship, press identification and repeated official inquiries can produce meaningful accountability.

ATTRIBUTION: This report is based on a CPJ statement published on September 25, 2026, a coalition letter sent to the Senate on September 23, and official US and Israeli findings issued in 2022.

PHOTO: AI-generated; for illustrative purposes only