Israeli Shell Kills Journalist, Wounds 6

Group was covering battles at border in south Lebanon
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Oct 13, 2023 4:45 PM CDT
Israeli Shell Lands Near Journalists at Lebanon Border
Issam Abdallah, a videographer for the Reuters news agency, holds a kitten while posing for a picture in Saaideh, Lebanon, on July 4. Abdallah was killed Friday by an Israeli shell.   (Emilie Madi/Reuters via AP)

An Israeli shell landed in a gathering of international journalists covering clashes on the border in south Lebanon on Friday, killing a Reuters videographer and leaving six other journalists injured. An AP photographer at the scene saw the body of Reuters videographer Issam Abdallah and the six who were wounded, some of whom were rushed to hospitals in ambulances. Images from the scene showed a charred car. "We are deeply saddened to tell you that our videographer, Issam Abdallah, has been killed," the Reuters news agency said in a statement. The agency added that Abdallah was part of a Reuters crew in southern Lebanon that was providing a live signal, per the AP.

Reuters said that two of its journalists, Thaer Al-Sudani and Maher Nazeh, were wounded in the shelling in the border area. Qatar's Al-Jazeera TV said two of its employees, Elie Brakhya and reporter Carmen Joukhadar, also were among the wounded. France's international news agency, Agence France-Presse, said two of its journalists also were among the wounded, but the agency did not release their names. Lebanon's caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati in a statement condemned Israel's shelling that struck the journalists "during its aggression on southern Lebanon." The Lebanon-Israel border has been witnessing sporadic acts of violence since Saturday's attack by the militant Palestinian group Hamas on southern Israel.

UN spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric called the deaths "another example of the daily dangers journalists face in covering conflict throughout the world" and said the world body hopes for an investigation into what happened. "Journalists need to be protected and allowed to do their work," he said at a briefing at UN headquarters. Later Friday, dozens of Lebanon-based journalists and rights activists gathered outside the National Museum in Beirut to grieve over Abdallah's death and the injury of the journalists. "We are urgently seeking more information, working with authorities in the region, and supporting Issam's family and colleagues," Reuters said.

(More Israel-Hamas war stories.)

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