Watchdog Groups Call for ‘War Crime’ Investigation into Israeli Attack on Journalists in Lebanon

Rights organizations Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have called for a “war crime” investigation into an Israeli strike in Lebanon that resulted in the death of one journalist and injuries to six others. This was reported to AFP on Thursday.

The incident, which occurred on October 13 near the Israeli border in southern Lebanon, claimed the life of 37-year-old journalist Issam Abdallah. Among those injured were two Reuters journalists, two from Al Jazeera, and two from AFP, including 28-year-old AFP photographer Christina Assi, who was seriously injured and underwent a leg amputation.

Both Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, alongside an earlier AFP investigation, concluded that the attack, which killed Abdallah and gravely injured Assi, most likely involved a tank shell fired by Israel.

Amnesty International labeled the strikes as likely direct attacks on civilians, necessitating a war crime investigation. Aya Majzoub, Amnesty’s Deputy Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa, emphasized the need for accountability for those responsible for Abdallah’s death and the journalists’ injuries. She stressed that journalists must not be targeted or killed for their work, and Israel should not be permitted to attack journalists with impunity.

Human Rights Watch described the two Israeli strikes as seeming deliberate attacks on civilians, a clear war crime. International humanitarian law strictly prohibits direct attacks against civilians. The group’s investigation found that the journalists, identifiable as media members and stationary for at least 75 minutes before the strike, were distant from ongoing hostilities.

Amnesty International verified images showing the seven journalists in press-marked body armor and a Reuters crew car marked ‘TV’. Human Rights Watch’s Lebanon researcher, Ramzi Kaiss, pointed out that the evidence strongly suggests Israeli forces knew or should have known they were attacking journalists, making it an unlawful and apparently deliberate attack.

Since October 7, 63 journalists and media workers, including 56 Palestinians, 4 Israelis, and 3 Lebanese, have lost their lives, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists.