Romney, Ossoff call for probe into Shireen Abu Akleh death in West Bank

The two senators also urged the Biden administration to ensure justice is served.

The killing of a US citizen and of a journalist engaged in the work of reporting in a conflict zone is unacceptable, the senators wrote in a letter to Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

Press freedom is a core American value, and we cannot accept impunity when journalists are killed in the line of duty, they wrote.

The State Department did not respond overnight to a request from The Washington Post for comment about the letter or whether the Biden administration would launch an investigation into the killing of a US citizen.

Last month, State Department spokesman Ned Price said Israel had the wherewithal and the capabilities to conduct a thorough, comprehensive investigation.

For Palestinian journalists, a colleagues death hits close to home

Israel at first blamed Palestinian militants for killing Abu Akleh before saying it would investigate the possibility that one of its soldiers killed her. Witnesses to the episode said she was shot by Israeli forces, but Israel says it has not determined who killed her.

Al Jazeera, where Abu Akleh was a veteran reporter, as well as other reporters who were with her when she was killed, said it was clear that Israeli troops fired the fatal shots. The Associated Press found in a review that evidence suggested the bullet that cut her down came from an Israeli gun.

Abu Akleh was a household name in the Arab world, and she was killed while wearing a helmet and a flak jacket labeled Press.

Al Jazeera said last month that it would refer the case to the International Criminal Court, having assigned a legal team to bring the case to The Hague.

Al Jazeera to refer killing of American journalist to war crimes court

At Abu Aklehs funeral procession in Jerusalem, Israeli police set off stun grenades and beat mourners with batons even striking the pallbearers before her coffin could reach its final resting place.

Ellen Francis contributed to this report.