Shireen Abu Akleh’s killing is a threat to press freedom everywhere

The footage is so galling, it stops in your tracks. Shot from multiple different angles, a slew of videos show members of the Israeli security forces charging at mourners at the funeral procession of slain veteran Palestinian-American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh.

They push back the crowds (the Israeli police later called them “rioters”) reaching her coffin, where, wielding batons, they beat the pallbearers who, hands full, struggle to keep their grip and defend themselves. The coffin falters and for a split second, it tips straight down and nearly hits the ground. In the background is the blast of stun grenades.

Al-Jazeera, Shireen’s employer as well as witnesses at the scene of her killing on 11 May, accuse the Israeli security services of shooting her dead while she was covering an Israeli military raid in the occupied West Bank. This is backed up by a preliminary analysis of harrowing videos of the killing on social media, conducted by open-source research group Bellingcat.

Al-Jazeera also said that Israeli security forces attacked the funerary procession and smashed the window of the hearse carrying her body.

Initially, Israeli officials flatly denied being responsible for Shireen’s death and blamed Palestinian gunmen. They have since released differing statements. They said last week that there were two scenarios; either she was hit by Palestinian gunfire during the fierce shootout, or she had been hit by an Israeli soldier.

The Israeli military has also said it has identified a soldier’s rifle that might have killed her but needed the bullet for analysis, which the Palestinians have refused to hand over. The Israeli military police has said it will not open a criminal investigation into the killing but a more informal probe is ongoing, and at the same time, Israel has asked for a joint investigation with the Palestinians who have declined, citing mistrust.

The Israeli police, meanwhile, despite apparent scant evidence, blamed “rioters” who “tried to sabotage the ceremony and harm the police” for the violence at Shireen’s funeral procession and said it has launched its own investigation into the conduct of its officers, adding it hopes “to draw lessons from the incident”.

But given the high levels of distrust and confusion and the lack of cooperation – as similar investigations in the past have delivered woefully little justice – it is clear there needs to be both an immediate international investigation into Shireen’s killing, and a separate independent investigation into the conduct of the Israeli security forces towards the pallbearers and mourners at her funeral.

If the exact circumstances of Shireen’s killing are not determined and no perpetrator is held to account – whatever the truth is – this threatens press freedoms, not only in the occupied West Bank or in Israel, but across the world.

Yes, journalism is a dangerous job. You take a risk when you enter an active firefight, but the fog of conflict cannot be the go-to excuse for the killing of a journalist in these circumstances. We are not default collateral.

The presence of journalists in news moments like the raid during which Shireen was killed is a necessary risk – reporters are an essential part of truth and accountability. Often, journalists are a lifeline of objective information for citizens. And if there is shred of doubt about the death of a journalist – about Shireen’s killing – a full investigation must be triggered, and given the difficulty in both sides cooperating, there has to be third-party involvement.

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I am not alone in saying this. 57 democrats in the US House of Representatives have called on the State Department and the FBI to launch an investigation into Shireen’s death. In the letter sent on Friday to secretary of state Antony Blinken and FBI chief Christopher Wray, they argue that as an American citizen, Ms Abu Akleh is entitled to the full protections afforded to US citizens living abroad and cited the State Department’s words that her death was “an affront to media freedom”.

The letter was quickly condemned by Israel’s ambassador to the US, Michael Herzog, who said it did not offer “a fair representation of the case, ignores important context and reaches the wrong conclusion”. He said “justice would be better served by calling on the PA (Palestinian Authority) to give Israel access to the bullet and allow for the completion of the investigation”.

But I would argue, given the massive lack of trust, how both sides accuse the other of responsibility for Shireen’s death and how unlikely any proper cooperation is, why not have an international intermediary help get to the truth?

It’s too important to let this pass in a fog of accusations and denials, in finger-pointing and hollow statements.