Dutch group confirms Israeli tank killed Lebanese journalist

An independent Dutch research organization has confirmed that a Reuters videographer was killed and six other journalists were injured by Israeli tank fire in southern Lebanon last October. These journalists were reporting on the hostilities between Hezbollah and Israeli forces when they were struck by a tank shell on October 13, amidst the Israel-Hamas conflict in Gaza.

The Netherlands Organization for Applied Scientific Research (TNO) reported that the journalists experienced artillery fire, with two rounds hitting close to their location within a span of 37 seconds. According to TNO’s analysis, which Reuters commissioned to investigate the incident on October 13, the attack by Israeli forces lasted for a total of 1 minute and 45 seconds.

Israeli authorities have consistently stated that they do not intentionally target journalists, and there has not yet been an official response to the findings of the Dutch research group.

In December, human rights organizations Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch described the Israeli strikes that resulted in casualties among the journalists as seemingly intentional and a direct assault on civilians.

The casualties included Reuters journalists Issam Abdallah, Thaer Al-Sudani, and Maher Nazeh, Elie Brakhya and Carmen Joukhadar from Qatar’s Al-Jazeera, and AFP’s Christina Assi and video journalist Dylan Collins. Assi, who sustained severe injuries, was recently released from the American University Medical Center in Beirut after nearly five months of medical treatment.