New Revelations on the Shooting of Shireen Abu Akleh

Three years after Shireen Abu Akleh's death, a documentary reveals the identity of the Israeli soldier believed to have fired the fatal shot, escalating scrutiny on the incident and the Israeli military’s response.

On May 8, 2025, significant updates emerged regarding the controversial shooting of Shireen Abu Akleh, a prominent Palestinian American journalist who was killed in the West Bank in 2022. Initially, Israeli officials speculated that she may have been shot by a Palestinian militant; however, months later, the military conceded that it was likely an Israeli soldier who fired the bullet, yet they did not disclose the soldier's identity.

Now, a documentary produced by Zeteo News, a left-leaning online outlet, has named the alleged shooter as Capt. Alon Scagio, who was a 20-year-old marksman in an elite commando unit at the time of the incident. The documentary claims to have validated this identification through testimony from a fellow soldier.

While two Israeli military officials have anonymously confirmed the documentary's findings to The New York Times, the Israeli military has refrained from definitively acknowledging the soldier's identity, citing ongoing investigations. They have also communicated to the media a request from the Scagio family to refrain from publicizing the captain's name.

Shireen Abu Akleh was a veteran reporter with Al Jazeera and a revered figure in the Middle East. Her tragic demise elicited widespread mourning and sparked heightened global scrutiny regarding Israel's policies in the West Bank. The incident strained relations between the Biden administration and the Israeli government, largely due to Abu Akleh's American citizenship.

As revelations continue to unfold, the case remains a fulcrum for discussions about accountability and justice in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.