AFPC-USA Condemns IDF Attack That Killed Journalist Issam Abdallah, Wounded Six Others

An independent investigation by Reuters news agency has concluded that Israel Defense Forces, firing two shells in quick succession from a tank, killed Reuters visual journalist Issam Abdallah, 37, and wounded six other journalists on Oct. 13 in southern Lebanon. The attack also severely wounded Agence France-Presse (AFP) photographer Christina Assi, 28. Other journalists from Reuters, Al Jazeera and AFP were also wounded. 

The Association of Foreign Press Correspondents in the United States (AFPC-USA) strongly condemns the attack against journalists doing their jobs. Before the attack, Abdallah and the other journalists —  wearing blue flak jackets and helmets, most with “PRESS” on them, and standing next to their cars marked with “TV” -- were filming cross-border shelling between IDF and Iranian-backed Hezbollah forces in South Lebanon that day for 45 minutes. They were standing in plain view on a hilltop near the Lebanese village of Alma al-Chaab and more than a kilometer from the Israeli border. 

Journalists are civilians, not combatants, and they are protected as such under the laws of armed conflict, like the 1949 Geneva Conventions. Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have said that the Israeli strikes were likely an attack on civilians and should be investigated as a war crime. Israeli government spokespersons have said the IDF doesn’t target civilians and that the journalists were in “an active combat zone” that was dangerous. The Israeli government said it is investigating the incident, which occurred during the upsurge of violence since the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks on Israel. 

The AFPC calls on the Israeli government to ensure the IDF does not fire at journalists and to make public the results of its own investigation into the incident without delay, as well as to hold to account those responsible for this attack. The AFPC also calls on the U.S. and other governments to use their influence to ensure Israel makes the full results of its inquiry public and to demand IDF forces not attack journalists. 

By early December, 94 journalists had been killed so far in 2023 around the world, 68 actively covering the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza, according to the International Federation of Journalists. By one count, the dead journalists and media workers include four Israeli journalists killed during the October 7th Hamas attack and three Lebanese journalists and 56 Palestinian journalists killed in the subsequent violence.