Justice for Shireen: US groups urge probe into Palestinian journalist's killing

More than 60 organisations have signed a letter urging the US Congress to pass an act that would ensure an investigation into the killing of US-Palestinian journalist Shireen Abu Akleh by Israeli forces.

The celebrated Al Jazeera journalist was shot in the head by an Israeli sniper while covering a raid on the Jenin refugee camp in the occupied West Bank in May of last year.

Washington is yet to initiate a probe into the US-Palestinian journalist's killing and groups are calling for action, coinciding with Israeli President Isaac Herzog's visit to the US.

"This letter appeals to lawmakers to pass the Justice for Shireen Act and urges Congress and the Biden administration to take immediate steps to ensure US assistance to Israel does not contribute to human rights violations against Palestinians or attacks on members of the press," read the letter.

Congressman Andre Carson first introduced the Justice for Shireen Act, which requires an investigation and report on the death of Abu Akleh last November.

"The Justice for Shireen Act seeks answers to many unanswered questions, including what happened before, during, and after the killing. This bill would also identify any US defence materials or services involved in Ms. Abu Akleh's death," Carson's office said at the time.

The act faces an uphill battle before becoming law, with Republicans and Democrats who support Israel making up the vast majority of the two houses.

The House of Representatives just this week overwhelmingly passed a resolution that says Israel is "not a racist or apartheid state", and Washington provides Israel with billions of dollars in military aid.

The letter, signed by press freedom group the Committee to Protect Journalists, said Abu Akleh's death "is part of a systemic pattern of human rights abuses against Palestinians and the free press by the Israeli military".

"For more than two decades, the Committee to Protect Journalists has recorded at least 20 instances where journalists were killed by the Israeli military. 

"Despite multiple internal investigations by the Israeli military, no one has been prosecuted or held accountable for these killings," the letter read.