Israeli tank fire killed a Reuters journalist and maimed an AFP photographer in Lebanon in 2023; the IDF has described the incident only as 'under review'.
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On October 13, 2023, an Israeli tank fired two shells 37 seconds apart at a group of journalists wearing press vests on a hilltop in southern Lebanon, per CPJ. Reuters videographer Issam Abdallah was killed and AFP photographer Christina Assi lost a leg; other Reuters, AFP and Al Jazeera journalists were wounded. Investigations by Reuters, AFP, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and RSF concluded the fatal shell was a 120mm Israeli tank round, and a UNIFIL investigation reportedly found the tank fired on clearly identifiable journalists with no exchange of fire for over 40 minutes beforehand. The IDF told CPJ that soldiers suspected a 'terrorist infiltration' and used tank and artillery fire, and that the incident is 'under review'. As of CPJ's most recent report, Israel had not said whether it opened a criminal investigation or published findings, and the Military Advocate General never responded to CPJ's April 2024 request for a criminal probe.
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