The Unveiling: Shireen Abu Akleh’s Shooter Revealed
On an early May morning in 2022, acclaimed Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh was gunned down in Jenin while clearly wearing Press insignia—a moment that sent shockwaves through the global press community and ignited international outrage. The question, “Who killed Shireen Abu Akleh?” echoed far beyond the borders of Palestine and Israel, haunting newsroom conversations and legislative debates in Washington, D.C. The killing of a Palestinian-American journalist, while reporting in a warzone, spotlighted the disturbing impunity that too often shrouds violence against journalists while doing their critical, democratic work.
Until now, the identity of the shooter had remained a fiercely guarded secret. In the newly released Zeteo Media documentary, “Who Killed Shireen?,” a team of investigative journalists led by Dion Nissenbaum—known for his reporting with The Wall Street Journal—and New York Times contributor Fatima AbdulKarim, have unraveled that mystery. Their film identifies Capt. Alon Scagio (also spelled Sacgiu), a 20-year-old marksman in Israel’s elite Duvdevan commando unit, as the man who fired the shot that ended Abu Akleh’s life. According to the documentary, Scagio was subsequently promoted after the incident and later killed in combat in Jenin in 2024, an ironic twist emblematic of the endless cycle of violence in the region.
The documentary’s conclusion did not emerge in a vacuum. Veteran investigative efforts—by CNN, The New York Times, and Bellingcat—had previously all but ruled out the official Israeli narrative that Abu Akleh was killed by Palestinian gunfire. Still, Israeli authorities resisted naming the shooter, at one point requesting through the soldier’s family that the press refrain from identification, reflecting an official culture of opacity.
Accountability Versus Diplomacy: The Ongoing Cover-Up Allegations
A closer look reveals that this battle for truth extends well beyond a single tragically killed reporter. According to the documentary’s sources—including high-ranking military officials who confirmed the findings to The New York Times—the Israeli government initially advanced a now discredited theory that Palestinian militants were responsible. Only after months of public pressure and independent forensics did the
Israeli Defense Forces admit there was a “high probability” an Israeli soldier fired the fatal shot—but insisted it was unintentional. Yet, crucial evidence and ballistic data remain under wraps, and the official military investigation never produced a prosecution.
What of accountability from Israel’s key ally, the United States? The film’s most explosive claim is that the Biden administration’s private assessment originally found it more likely than not that Abu Akleh was intentionally targeted—before the White House walked back that conclusion, prioritizing the diplomatic relationship over the pursuit of justice. Maryland Senator Chris Van Hollen, interviewed in the film, has repeatedly called for transparency. “There’s a consistent pattern,” Van Hollen told The Intercept, “where the [U.S.] State Department says, ‘We will call for accountability,’ but then they do nothing.”
“Impunity is not the exception, but increasingly the rule when it comes to attacks on journalists in conflict zones—especially when powerful governments prefer silence to the messy work of justice.”
Calls for an independent, international investigation have been steadfast since 2022, growing only louder in the wake of these new revelations. The United Nations, Committee to Protect Journalists, and Human Rights Watch have all denounced both Israeli and U.S. approaches as insufficient and fundamentally undemocratic. Rights groups argue that such lack of accountability sends a dangerous message—one that emboldens further attacks, whether against reporters in the field or civilians caught in crossfire.
The Broader Stakes: Press Freedom and International Justice
Beyond that, the resonance of Abu Akleh’s death extends far beyond one grieving family. The killing underscored systemic issues in press freedom, military impunity, and the U.S.-Israel alliance—with ripple effects that extend to every corner of the globe where journalists risk their lives. As Harvard’s Nieman Reports highlighted, the years since 2000 have seen over 1,600 journalists killed worldwide, the majority with no justice ever rendered. Shireen Abu Akleh’s case, because of her dual Palestinian and U.S. citizenship, put Washington’s feet to the fire in a way few others have. Yet, neither Israel nor the U.S. has responded with the transparency or resolve that democratic values supposedly demand.
Israel’s defenders point to the chaos of urban warfare and the fog of conflict as exculpatory factors. Still, evidence compiled by CNN and others—including bullet trajectory analyses and witness accounts—found that no Palestinian militants were near Abu Akleh when she was shot. Legal and ethical standards set by international conventions, including the Geneva Conventions and principles advocated by UN Special Rapporteurs, require more than a vague nod to regret when a member of the press is shot in broad daylight. As legal analyst Amal Clooney has stressed in similar cases, “There can be no peace without justice, and no justice without accountability.”
What does it say about our own government’s priorities when clear evidence is overridden by geopolitical expedience? Americans expect, at the very least, the protection of fellow citizens abroad—especially when they are working in the service of the free press. The refusal to push for a transparent, independent inquiry stands in stark contrast to progressive values of justice, equality before the law, and human rights.
If history is any guide, the path forward is murky. Enshrined in our democratic tradition is a belief that truth matters—no matter how uncomfortable or inconvenient. When governments evade responsibility in the face of facts, it is not only accountability that suffers, but the very fabric of civil society.
What Justice Looks Like: Answering the Call for Reform
As calls for change grow louder, the lessons from the Abu Akleh case couldn’t be clearer. Real justice demands the courage to confront uncomfortable truths, the will to hold even allies to account, and a renewed commitment to press freedom as a foundational pillar of democracy. The refusal by both Israel and the United States to fully reckon with the facts revealed in the Zeteo documentary represents a shameful abdication of moral responsibility and reinforces the need for international mechanisms that don’t bend to politics or power.
The stakes aren’t just about one reporter—though for her family and colleagues, justice remains heartbreakingly personal. They echo across every newsroom where reporters still wear press vests, hoping—sometimes vainly—that the world values their work, their voice, and their lives.
