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J Street Welcomes Strong Senate Call for US Investigation Into Abu Akleh Killing, J Street
“J Street welcomes Senator Chris Van Hollen’s letter, released today and signed by 24 Democratic Senators, calling for an independent US investigation into the killing of Palestinian-American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh to be led by the US State Department and Federal Bureau of Investigation. With 24 out of 50 Senate Democrats adding their name, the signers constitute nearly half of the Senate Democratic caucus.”
Senate Democrats Demand That US Investigate Shooting Death of Palestinian-American Journalist in West Bank, The Hill
Two dozen Democratic senators on Thursday called on President Biden to get the U.S. “directly involved” in an investigation into last month’s shooting death of Palestinian-American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh, who was killed while reporting on an Israeli military operation in the West Bank city of Jenin. In a letter sent to the president, the senators call for the State Department and FBI to launch an “independent investigation under U.S auspices to determine the truth” amid accusations that Abu Akleh was killed by the Israeli military.
U.N. Rights Body Says Israeli Soldiers Killed American Journalist in West Bank, The Washington Post
A veteran Palestinian American journalist was killed by Israeli forces while covering a military raid in the occupied West Bank, a spokeswoman for the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights said on Friday, summarizing the results of the office’s investigation into the fatal shooting in May of Shireen Abu Akleh, a correspondent for Al Jazeera. Abu Akleh was not shot “from indiscriminate firing by armed Palestinians, as initially claimed by Israeli authorities,” Ravina Shamdasani said in a statement.
Iran Dismisses Revolutionary Guards’ Powerful Intelligence Chief, The New York Times
Iran has dismissed the longstanding intelligence chief of the Revolutionary Guards force, considered one of the country’s most powerful figures, as concerns mount over Israel’s covert war on Iran’s defense systems and its nuclear program. The removal of the intelligence chief, Hossein Taeb, after 13 years in the post, was confirmed in a statement by the Guards that did not explain why he had been dismissed. But analysts agreed that his failure to stop Israel from breaching Iran’s security network was at the heart of it.
Israeli FM Thanks Turkey for Foiling Attacks on Israelis, ABC News
Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid on Thursday thanked Turkish authorities for their cooperation in allegedly foiling attacks against Israeli citizens in Turkey, and warned Israel would not “sit idly by’ in the face of threats to its citizens from Iran.
IDF Officer Removes LGBTQ+ Pride Flag in Northern Israel, The Jerusalem Post
An IDF officer was filmed removing an LGBTQ+ Pride flag that had been put up by the Emek Hayarden Regional Council in a roundabout in northern Israel on Thursday.
Israel’s Top Cop on Al Jazeera Journalist’s Funeral: We Were Wrong, but No Heads Should Roll, Haaretz
Israel’s Police Commissioner Kobi Shabtai reiterated on Thursday that police actions at Shireen Abu Akleh’s funeral, during which forces assaulted pallbearers, nearly causing them to drop the coffin, “were wrong.”
Just Like Trump, Netanyahu Is a Danger to Israel, Haaretz
Nehemia Shtrasler argues, “If he wins the election, Bibi will realize his plan to destroy Israeli democracy. This week his obedient servants MKs David Amsalem and May Golan submitted a bill to have Supreme Court justices appointed by the cabinet and Knesset instead of by the Judicial Appointments Committee. This would completely politicize the court, and thereby effectively destroy it. That way, only one branch of government would remain — Bibi, who would control both the cabinet and the Knesset.”