Watchdogs say IDF strike that killed a journalist in Lebanon merits a ‘war crime’ probe

Civil Defense workers remove the body of Reuters videographer Issam Abdallah who was killed by shelling, at Alma al-Shaab border village with Israel, south Lebanon, Friday, October 13, 2023. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar, File)
Civil Defense workers remove the body of Reuters videographer Issam Abdallah who was killed by shelling, at Alma al-Shaab border village with Israel, south Lebanon, Friday, October 13, 2023. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar, File)

An Israeli strike in Lebanon that killed one journalist and injured six others on October 14 merits a “war crime” investigation, rights groups Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch tell AFP.

Issam Abdallah, 37, was killed instantly in the strike. The others present — two other Reuters journalists, two from Al Jazeera, and two from AFP — were all injured. AFP photographer Christina Assi, 28, was seriously wounded, later had a leg amputated and is still in hospital.

The Israeli military has said it was sorry for the death of a Reuters journalist killed when caught up in cross-border shelling along the frontier with Lebanon, but has not acknowledged responsibility, saying it was investigating the incident.

The AFP news agency says a probe it conducted points to the death being caused by a tank shell only used by the Israeli army.

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