DION NISSENBAUM: We were able to find a key U.S. official to talk to us, who told us that U.S. personnel went to the scene in the West Bank city of Jenin, where Shireen was killed, to try and figure out what happened. And their initial assessment was that the Israeli soldier intentionally targeted Shireen.
(SOUNDBITE OF DOCUMENTARY, "WHO KILLED SHIREEN?")
UNIDENTIFIED US OFFICIAL: It was an indication that it was an intentional killing of, at this point in time, Shireen Abu Akleh. They would have absolutely known that it was a media person - or not combatants, at a minimum - that that person shot and killed.
FADEL: In the film, as you can hear, the former U.S. official's voice is distorted. NPR's Daniel Estrin also spoke to that former U.S. official, who also requested anonymity from us to discuss sensitive internal government discussions. The official said the U.S. initially found that the killing was intentional - that the soldier would have known he was shooting at a journalist. But he said those findings were changed, and ultimately, the U.S. concluded there was no reason to believe the shooting was intentional. Again, Dion Nissenbaum.
NISSENBAUM: That initial assessment was essentially overruled by the Biden administration, and they came out and said explicitly that it was unintentional.
FADEL: So what did you make of that when you heard that?
NISSENBAUM: For me, the - one of the main reasons I wanted to do this documentary is that so many people just don't understand what happened to Shireen that day. And, you know, the Israeli investigation itself concluded that it was very likely that an Israeli soldier falsely identified Shireen as a militant and intentionally killed her. That really is not in debate. There were no militants near her that they were aiming for. She was not caught in any crossfire. The Israeli investigation itself concluded that the soldier intentionally shot her.
FADEL: Did you find Shireen's killer?
NISSENBAUM: We did find Shireen's killer. He was a 20-year-old soldier who was on his first combat deployment in the West Bank, and we were able to track him down. And he actually was himself killed in Jenin last summer, so he was killed in the city where he killed Shireen.
...
FADEL: What do you hope this film will achieve?
NISSENBAUM: I'm hoping that it will lead to some reflections from the Israeli military about the way that they operate in the West Bank around civilians and journalists. I'm hoping that the U.S. government will reflect on its own responsibility in trying to seek some justice for an American citizen who was killed by the Israeli military. I hope there's some reflection from U.S. officials about ways that they can stand up for Americans in that situation.
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