U.S. officials were divided over ‘soft-pedaled’ report on Israeli shooting of Shireen Abu Akleh, NYT reports

BEIRUT — A newly revealed account shows that senior U.S. officials were divided over how the Biden administration handled its investigation into Israel's killing of Palestinian-American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh, "soft-pedaled the office’s findings to appease the Israeli government," The New York Times reported.

Abu Akleh, a prominent Al-Jazeera correspondent, was killed by a shot directly targeting her in May 2022 while covering an Israeli raid in Jenin, in the occupied West Bank.

A U.S. statement at the time described her death as the "result of tragic circumstances," saying Israel was "likely responsible" but that there was "no reason to believe it was intentional."

The statement sparked outrage among Palestinians and human rights groups, who saw it as yet another example of Israel avoiding accountability for the killing of civilians. Washington has not publicly addressed the case since.

Retired Colonel Steve Gabavics — who was part of the team reviewing the incident and drafting the report — said he and a colleague opposed the officially released findings, particularly the decision to rule out intent. He added that the government's decision to avoid calling it intentional "continued to be on my conscience nonstop."

Israeli soldiers knew there were journalists in the area on the day of the incident, Gabavics added. The precision of the shots would also be an indication that the shooting was intentional.

He said Israeli soldiers knew journalists were present in the area that day, and that the precision of the shots suggested intent. "The favoritism is always toward the Israelis. Very little of that goes to the Palestinians," Gabavics added, referring to his experience at the U.S. Office of the Security Coordinator, which oversees cooperation with Israeli and Palestinian security forces and conducted the investigation.

After disagreeing with his superior on this case, Colonel Gabavics was sidelined from the investigation, according to several U.S. officials contacted by NYT. He also reported being threatened with dismissal by his superior, Lt. Gen. Michael R. Fenzel

According to NYT, some officials speculated that a factor that might have played into making such a decision was Fenzel's "desire to preserve his office's working relationship with the Israeli military, which had previously stopped cooperating when displeased."

Abu Akleh worked for Al-Jazeera since 1997 and became a household name across the Arab world. Her killing provoked widespread anger, particularly after the Israeli army admitted there was a "high probability" its forces had "accidentally" shot her — after initially blaming Palestinian gunmen.

In a documentary about her murder released in May by the independent U.S. outlet Zeteo, the Israeli sniper accused of killing Abu Akleh was identified as Alan Scagio, a member of the Duvdevan unit, who was himself killed in a roadside improvised explosive device in Jenin in June 2024. Gabavics, who had previously spoken anonymously in that film, has now gone on record for the first time.