Less than a week into the Israel-Gaza war, at 6:02 p.m. on October 13, 2023, the Israeli military fired two tank shells 37 seconds apart into south Lebanon. The military’s target? Seven journalists standing on a hilltop around a mile from the closest hostilities, wearing clearly marked “Press” vests and reporting next to a car marked “TV.”
The Israeli attack instantly killed Reuters’ veteran video journalist Issam Abdallah. Agence France-Presse (AFP) photojournalist Christina Assi sustained injuries resulting in the amputation of her right leg and five other journalists were also wounded: AFP’s Dylan Collins, Al Jazeera’s Carmen Joukhadar and Elie Brakhya, and Reuters’ Thaer Al-Sudani and Maher Nazeh.
In March 2024, an investigation by the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon concluded that an Israeli tank targeted “clearly identifiable” journalists in violation of international law, according to Reuters’ review of the investigation, which has not been made public. Four additional investigations — by AFP, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and Reuters — all independently arrived at the same conclusion: that Israel conducted a deliberate attack on the journalists. A deliberate attack on civilians constitutes a war crime under international law.
Yet, a year later, Israel still has not confirmed if it has even completed a preliminary investigation into the attack. The North America Media Desk of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) told CPJ in an email that the military used tank and artillery fire on October 13 to prevent a suspected “terrorist infiltration,” and the incident was “under review.”
“In spite of extensive evidence of a war crime, a year on from the attack, Israel has faced zero accountability for the targeting of journalists,” said CPJ CEO Jodie Ginsberg.
A CPJ special report ahead of the November vote finds that the hostile media climate fostered during Donald Trump’s presidency has continued to fester, with members of the press confronting challenges that could shape the global media environment for decades.
“It is concerning that in an increasingly polarized environment, threats to the media have become routine in the U.S.,” said Katherine Jacobsen, CPJ’s U.S., Canada, and Caribbean program coordinator and author of the report. “The scapegoating of journalists not only has consequences for them personally, but also poses grave risks to the public’s right to be informed, a core element of any democracy.”
Threats to journalists include police assaults, violence, and online harassment, with work-related attacks in the first nine of months of 2024 increasing by more than 50% compared to 2023. Media outlets are also facing a draining onslaught of lawsuits that could endanger reporters’ First Amendment rights and ability to protect confidential sources.
We defend the right of journalists to report the news safely and without fear of reprisal.
AlHassan Hamad
Freelance,Al Jazeera,Media Town TV, Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory
Mohammed Abed Rabbo
Al-Manara Agency, Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory
Muhammad Bachal Ghunio
Awaz TV, Pakistan
Ryan Evans
Reuters, Ukraine
Hero Bahadin
Chatr Multimedia Production Company,Sterk TV, Iraq
Gulistan Tara
Chatr Multimedia Production Company, Iraq