An Israeli tank crew fired two missiles and likely also heavy machine guns at a group of clearly identified journalists in Lebanon on 13 October 2023, the Netherlands Organization for Applied Scientific Research (TNO) concluded after analyzing the attack at Reuters’ request. The attack on the press left a Reuters visual journalist dead and several journalists from Reuters, AFP, and Al-Jazeera injured.
The journalists were on a hilltop near the village of Aalma el-Chaab in southern Lebanon, close to the demarcation line between Lebanon and Israel when the Israeli tank fired on them. They wore bulletproof vests with the word “press” clearly stated on them.
The Israeli Merkava tank was 1.34 kilometers away on the Israel side of the line when it fired on the journalists in an attack that lasted 1 minute and 45 seconds, TNO said. It fired two 120 mm rounds at the reporters. The first killed Reuters visual journalist Issam Abdallah.
In addition to killing Abdallah, the attack also left AFP photographer Christina Assi critically injured. Several other journalists from Reuters, AFP, and Al Jazeera also got hurt.
Reuters Editor-in-Chief Alessandra Galloni said:
We condemn, in the strongest terms, the attack on a clearly identifiable group of journalists working in the open. We reiterate our calls on Israel to explain how this could have happened and to hold those responsible to account.
AFP global news director Phil Chetwynd demanded a thorough and transparent investigation by the Israeli army.
"This incident strongly indicates intentional targeting, as confirmed by investigations, including by TNO,” Ihtisham Hibatullah, manager of international communications at Al Jazeera, told Reuters.
The Israeli Defense Forces and Lebanon’s Minister of Information did not respond to Reuters’ request for comment.
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"Израильская военщина известна всему свету..." © 🙂