Relatives of journalist killed in West Bank slam US President Joe Biden

Relatives of a Palestinian-American journalist who was killed while reporting on Israeli attacks in the occupied West Bank have slammed Joe Biden.

Relatives of Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Ackley expressed “grief, anger and (a) a sense of betrayal”, accusing the United States of trying to eliminate Israel’s responsibility for her death.

A U.S. statement earlier this week said Israeli fire may have killed her, but the May 11 shooting in the West Bank town of Jenin was not intentional.

The aftermath of the killing could cast a shadow over U.S. President Joe Biden’s visit to Israel and the occupied West Bank next week.

U.S. officials did not immediately respond.

The AP’s reconstruction has given support to Palestinian witnesses who say Ms. Abu Ackley was killed by Israeli forces without a final decision.

Investigations by CNN, the New York Times and the Washington Post, as well as monitoring by the UN Human Rights Office, have come to similar conclusions.

Israel denies that Ms. Abu Akleh was deliberately targeted and says she may have been shot by Israeli soldiers or Palestinian militants during the exchange of fire.

The State Department said in a July 4 statement that the bullet that killed her was so damaged it could not be determined who fired it.

The U.S. concluded separate investigations by Israel and the Palestinian Authority and concluded that she was likely hit by Israeli fire, the statement said.

But it found “no reason to believe this was intentional”, saying it was the result of “tragic circumstances”.

The United States has not explained how it came to these conclusions or cited evidence to support them.

Abu Akleh’s family said “all available evidence” suggested she was intentionally killed by an Israeli soldier and that the government “completely fell short” of the minimum expectations of a credible, independent investigation.

“On the contrary, the United States has been working to eliminate any wrongdoing by the Israeli military,” they said in a letter on Friday.

“It’s as if you were expecting the world and us to move on now. Silence would be better.”

Relatives also asked Mr Biden to meet with them when he visited the area.

U.S. politicians have pressed the government for an independent investigation into the killing of Ms. Abu Akleh, a senior live correspondent for Al Jazeera’s Arabic service, well known and respected in the Arab world.

Ms. Abu Akleh, 51, has spent 25 years reporting on the harsh realities of life under Israeli military rule.

Palestinians see her as a martyr for journalism and its national cause.

Israeli police have drawn widespread criticism for beating mourners and coffins at a May 14 funeral in Jerusalem.

An Israeli newspaper reported last month that a police investigation had uncovered misconduct by some of its officials, but said it would not impose severe penalties on those who oversaw the incident.