Two US senators, Republican Mitt Romney (from Utah) and Democrat John Osoff (from Georgia), sent a letter to US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, calling for a "full investigation" and transparent” in the assassination of Palestinian-American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh, who was killed while covering the storming of Jenin in the West Bank last month.
Senator Romney, who ran in the 2012 Republican presidential elections against US President (then) Barack Obama, is a staunch supporter of Israel.
Senator John Asof, the youngest in the US Senate, is an American Jew.
The two US senators wrote: "We are deeply disturbed by the killing of American journalist Shireen Abu Aqleh, who was shot dead while reporting near Jenin in the West Bank on May 11, 2022."
They called Blinken "to ensure that there is a full and transparent investigation and accountability of the Israelis over the death of Abu Akleh."
Israel has opened an investigation, but has not revealed any progress, updates, or the nature of the ongoing investigations.
"The killing of an American citizen and a journalist reporting in a conflict zone is unacceptable," Senator Romney and Senator Osoff wrote.
"Freedom of the press is a fundamental American value, and we cannot accept impunity when journalists are killed in the line of duty, and America must ensure that a full and transparent investigation is completed, and that justice is served in Abu Akleh´s death," they added.
Minister Blinken was asked to "provide a detailed update on the progress of this effort by July 6."
In a telephone conversation with his Israeli counterpart, Yair Lapid, Blinken stressed the importance of completing the investigations into the killing of Palestinian-American Abu Akleh, according to the US State Department.
It is noteworthy that an investigation conducted by CNN confirmed with evidence that the Israeli occupation army killed Abu Aqila in a "targeted attack", and Israel denied this claim.
The Palestinian Authority also accused the occupation army of assassinating Abu Aqila and refused to conduct a joint investigation.
