UN investigation has concluded that an Israeli tank killed Reuters reporter Issam Abdallah wounding 6 other journalists in Lebanon last year by firing two 120 mm rounds at a group of “clearly identifiable journalists” in violation of international law.
The investigation into the October 13 incident by the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) concluded that the shelling of “clearly identifiable journalists” violated both international law and the UN Security Council resolution.
The investigation by UNIFIL, summarized in a report said its personnel did not record any exchange of fire across the border between Israel and Lebanon for more than 40 minutes before the Israeli Merkava tank opened fire killing and injuring the media personnel.
“It is assessed that there was no exchange of fire across the Blue Line at the time of the incident. The reason for the strikes on the journalists is not known,” the seven page UN report said.
“The firing at civilians, in this instance clearly identifiable journalists, constitutes a violation of UNSCR 1701 (2006) and international law,” the UNIFIL report added, referring to Security Council resolution 1701.
On October 13 last year two Israeli shells hit a group of journalists as they were working near the border village of Alma al-Shaab in southern Lebanon killing Reuters reporter Issam Abdallah, and wounding two Reuters, two Al Jazeera and two AFP journalists. AFP photographer was seriously wounded and later had her leg amputated.
The report on the UNIFIL investigation, which has been handed to both Israeli and Lebanese authorities, concluded that the Israeli army “fired two 120 mm Merkava (tank) shells in quick succession.”
Earlier an AFP inquiry into the deadly attack, jointly conducted with Airwars, an NGO that investigates attacks on civilians in conflict situations, pointed to a 120-mm tank shell only used by the Israeli army.
Reuters had also conducted a probe into the attack and included initial findings from the Netherlands Organization for Applied Scientific Research (TNO), that found that two Israeli shells were fired from the same position across the border.
In its final report released last week, TNO said analysis of audio picked up by an Al Jazeera video camera at the scene showed the journalists also likely came under Israeli fire from a machine gun mounted on the Israeli tank.
Human Rights Watch has said the strikes were “apparently deliberate attacks on civilians, which is a war crime”.
As per the figures given by the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), 95 media personnel’s have been killed since the regime launched its military assault on Gaza.
According to press freedom groups the number of reporters and media workers killed, injured, or missing in Israel’s war on Gaza is unmatched in any conflict in recent history.
