Seven journalists from Reuters, Al Jazeera and AFP were on October 13 at Lebanon’s southern border with Israel. They stood on top of an open ridge and documented hostilities between the Israeli army and the Islamist militia groups Hezbollah, Hamas and Islamic Jihad. So, right after 18.00, they were hit by two rocket attacks. The 37-year-old Reuters journalist Issam Abdallah lost his life, and six others were injured. A car belonging to Al Jazeera’s TV crew burns after a rocket attack on Lebanon’s southern border with Israel. Photo: THAIER AL-SUDANI / Reuters AFP journalist Christina Assi had to have a leg amputated as a result of her injuries. According to two investigations, one from the AFP and the independent organization Airwars, and one from the human rights group Human Rights Watch (HRW), the attack came from the Israeli army. Lebanese authorities are also investigating the case. Lebanon’s government now says it will present a complaint to the UN Security Council, attaching documentation from AFP and Reuters. Erik Kroon from the Netherlands Organization for Applied Scientific Research has contributed to the investigation on behalf of Reuters. Here he points to a map that will show the path of the attack on the journalists. Photo: EMILIE MADI / Reuters – Knew, or should have known The investigation from HRW also shows that the attack was targeted. – The evidence strongly indicates that Israeli forces knew, or should have known, that the group they attacked were journalists, says HRW investigator Ramzi Kaiss. Amnesty International says the attack must now be investigated as a war crime. Reporters Without Borders (RSF) has also established that the attack was targeted and came from the Israeli army. Photo: ISSAM ABDALLAH / Reuters Similar attacks have also been reported in the area on 9 October and 13 November. Since October 7, 63 journalists have lost their lives in the war in the Middle East. 56 of them were Palestinian, 4 Israeli, and 3 Lebanese. This shows a survey by the International Committee to Protect Journalists (ICPJ). About the same number of journalists lost their lives during the 20-year war in Afghanistan. Journalists must be protected on an equal footing with civilians in war zones, even when their work brings them close to the fighting. It is a clear principle in international law, laid down in Articles 51 and 79 of the first protocol of the Geneva Convention. Erik Kroon from the Netherlands Organization for Applied Scientific Research shows the tail part of a tank grenade in The Hague after investigations. Photo: EMILIE MADI / Reuters The grenades used are only used by the Israeli army The remains of a 120 millimeter grenade are central to the AFP investigation. The remains were found near Abdallah’s body, and all the experts agree that the type of grenade is only used by the Israeli Merkava tanks. Among other things, the news agency has studied satellite images which show that Israeli tanks were operating in the area where the attack came from during this period, the Israeli village of Jordeikh. Amnesty’s investigations show that all the journalists wore protective clothing clearly marked with “press”. Reuters’ blue car was marked with contrasting yellow tape that read “TV”. A car belonging to Al Jazeera’s TV team is outside the Lebanese village of Alma Al Chaab, just before a rocket attack. The photo was taken by the murdered journalist Issam Abdallah for Reuters. Photo: ISSAM ABDALLAH / Reuters Experts: – Very unlikely with a mistake Several witnesses have also said that there was no form of military activity in the area where the journalists were. The experts say it is highly unlikely that Israel, with its advanced intelligence capabilities, attacked the journalists by mistake. Images show that a drone and an IDF helicopter flew low over the area before the attack. – One shot hit the cameraman directly, while the other shot hit one of the journalists’ cars, so I think we can write off the idea that this was a random attack, or an accident, says Chris Cobb Smith, a security consultant and former British artillery soldier. Cobb Smith is one of six weapons experts and investigators with experience from war zones who have analyzed the evidence in the case. The coffin of Issam Abdallah is carried through the village of El Khiam in Lebanon on October 14. Photo: FADEL ITANI / AFP The fact that there were two different rocket strikes 37 seconds apart also strengthens the theory that the attack was carried out on purpose, say the experts. The IDF has denied that it carries out targeted attacks on journalists, but stated the day after the attack that it is sorry that the journalist was killed and that it is investigating the incident. So far, almost two months after the attack, there has been no new statement from the IDF on the matter. Erik Kroon shows a press vest that has been examined for explosive substances. Photo: EMILIE MADI / Reuters – Suddenly I couldn’t feel my legs The journalists who were on the scene describe very calm working conditions until the attack. – We had spent an hour filming a distant column of smoke far away to the south, and some Israeli rocket attacks on some hills to the southeast. Then we turned our cameras west just after 18.00, and suddenly we were hit. It came out of nowhere, says AFP journalist Dylan Collins. AFP journalist Christina Assi in a self-portrait from 13 October. Photo: CHRISTINA ASSI / AFP His badly injured colleague, Christina Assi, describes the sequence of events as follows: – We were in an open area, everyone was wearing helmets and vests, we were just doing our job… and we had a safe distance to the front line. Suddenly everything went white… I lost feeling in my legs, and I began to shout for help. AFP journalist Dylan Collins speaks during a press conference together with HRW and Amnesty about the attack on journalists on 13 October. Collins attempted to save Assi by dressing his wound with a tourniquet when the second rocket attack took place. Photo: – / AFP Al Jazeera journalist Carmen Joukhadar gives a further testimony: – I went live to report on the Israeli attacks and I had just said that there were no rockets coming from the Lebanese side. We were on top of a ridge, in an open area, without any rockets or military targets nearby, she says. Internasjonal Reporter: – Disturbing Chairman of the press organization Internasjonal Reporter, Vilde Skorpen Wikan, says she is very concerned about press freedom in the coverage of the conflict. Vilde Skorpen Wikan is chairman of Internasjonal Reporter. Photo: Aftenposten – It is disturbing how many journalists have been killed in this war. She emphasizes that the conflict has been characterized by a critical lack of information. – When journalists are killed, we lose the opportunity to see what is happening on the ground, says Wikan. She believes that we must take the investigations seriously: – If this is true, that this was a targeted attack, then this is an extremely serious matter. As Reuters, AFP, Amnesty and Human Rights Watch are behind those investigations, we have good reason to take them seriously.
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Reuters journalist was targeted and killed by Israel – news Urix – Foreign news and documentaries
