Israel targets and kills a Reuters journalist – NRK Urix – Foreign news and documentaries

Seven journalists from Reuters, Al Jazeera and Agence France-Presse were present on October 13 on Lebanon’s southern border with Israel.

They stood atop an open ridge and documented hostilities between the Israeli army and the Islamist militias Hezbollah, Hamas, and Islamic Jihad.

So, immediately after that, at 18.00, they were subjected to a missile attack. Reuters journalist Essam Abdullah, 37 years old, was killed and six others were injured.

AFP journalist Christina Assi had to have her leg amputated as a result of her injury.

According to two surveys, one of Agence France-Presse and the independent organization AirwarsAnd one from a human rights group Human Rights Watch (Human Rights Watch), the attack came from the Israeli army.

The Lebanese authorities are also investigating the case. The Lebanese government now says it will submit a complaint to the UN Security Council, accompanied by documents from AFP and Reuters.

– He knew, or should have known

The Human Rights Watch investigation also shows that the attack was targeted.

The evidence strongly suggests that Israeli forces knew, or should have known, that the group that attacked them was a journalist, says Human Rights Watch investigator Ramzi Qais.

Amnesty International says the attack must now be investigated as a war crime. Reporters Without Borders also established that the attack was targeted and came from the Israeli army.

Similar attacks were also reported in the area on October 9 and November 13.

Since October 7, 63 journalists have lost their lives in the war in the Middle East. Of them, 56 are Palestinians, 4 are Israelis, and 3 are Lebanese. A survey conducted by the International Committee to Protect Journalists (ICPJ) shows this.

About the same number of journalists lost their lives during the 20-year war in Afghanistan.

Journalists must be protected on an equal basis with civilians in war zones, even when their work brings them closer to the fighting. It is a clear principle in international law, stipulated in Articles 51 and 79 Of Protocol I of the Geneva Convention.

The hand grenades used are used by the Israeli army only

The remains of a 120 mm bomb are considered a key element in the AFP investigation.

The remains were found near Abdullah’s body, and all experts agree that the type of grenade is only used by Israeli Merkava tanks.

Among other things, the agency studied satellite images that show that Israeli tanks were operating in the area from which the attack came during this period, the Israeli village of Jardikh.

Amnesty International’s investigations show that all journalists were wearing protective gear clearly marked “press”. Reuters’ blue car was marked with a contrasting yellow stripe that read “TV.”

Experts: – An error is unlikely

Several witnesses also said that there was no form of military activity in the area where the journalists were located.

Experts say it is unlikely that Israel, with its advanced intelligence capabilities, attacked journalists by mistake.

The images show that an Israeli army drone and helicopter flew low over the area before the attack.

One of the bullets hit the photographer directly, while the other 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 Cope-Smith, a security consultant and former British artillery soldier.

Cobb Smith is one of six weapons experts and experienced investigators from war zones who analyzed the evidence in this case.

Experts say the fact that two different missile attacks occurred 37 seconds apart also reinforces the theory that the attack was carried out intentionally.

The Israeli army denied carrying out attacks targeting journalists, but stated the day after the attack that it regretted the killing of the journalist and was investigating the incident.

To date, nearly two months after the attack, there has been no new statement from the Israeli army on this issue.

– Suddenly I couldn’t feel my feet

Journalists who were at the scene described very calm working conditions until the attack.

We spent an hour photographing a distant plume of smoke to the south, and some Israeli missile attacks on some hills to the southeast. Then we turned our cameras west shortly after that at 18.00 and suddenly we were hit. “It came out of nowhere,” says AFP journalist Dylan Collins.

His colleague Christina Assi, who was seriously injured, describes the sequence of events as follows:

– We were in an open area, everyone was wearing helmets and jackets, and we were just doing our work… and we had a safe distance to the front line. Suddenly everything turned white… I lost feeling in my legs and started screaming for help.

Al Jazeera correspondent Carmen Joukhadar provides another testimony:

– I broadcast live to cover the Israeli attacks, and I had just said that there were no missiles coming from the Lebanese side. She says: We were on top of a ridge, in an open area, without any missiles or military targets nearby.