LONDON: The Committee to Protect Journalists on Tuesday urged pressure on Israel including potential economic consequences if it does not hold responsible troops behind a deadly 2023 strike on reporters in Lebanon.
A Reuters journalist was killed and two AFP reporters were seriously wounded when they came under fire in southern Lebanon close to the border with Israel on October 13, 2023.
Investigations by both news agencies as well as several non-governmental groups concluded that Israel carried out the attack.
The Committee to Protect Journalists, a New York-based group advocating freedom of the press, said that the European Union should consider a suspension of its agreement allowing free trade with Israel unless Israel takes responsibility.
“With Israel’s blatant failure to take accountability, we call on the international community to pressure Israeli officials to complete a probe naming the units and individuals responsible for the deliberate attacks against journalists,” said Sara Qudah, Middle East regional director for the Committee to Protect Journalists.
“The failure to hold those responsible to account,” she said, “puts other journalists at risk by allowing impunity to persist.”
“The suspension of the EU-Israel Association Agreement is one of the few remaining avenues that could create a meaningful pressure to break this cycle of impunity,” she said.
The Israeli military, asked by AFP for an update on the case, said the incident had been “referred to the General Staff Fact-Finding Assessment Mechanism for a comprehensive factual review,” without further details on a timeline.
“The IDF does not target journalists. The IDF makes every effort to minimize harm to uninvolved civilians while maintaining the security of its troops,” it said.
“The IDF regrets any harm caused to journalists, respects press freedom and their important role, and does not target journalists on the basis of their profession.”
Israeli envoy says strike a ‘mistake’
Reuters video journalist Issam Abdallah was killed in the strike, which wounded six other journalists.
They included AFP’s Dylan Collins and Christina Assi, whose leg had to be amputated after the attack.
Israel’s ambassador to France earlier this year for the first time acknowledged that Israeli forces struck the journalists and said it was “a mistake.”
Ambassador Joshua Zarka, speaking on French television, said the reporters “were not targeted because they were journalists” as “the soldiers on the ground thought that they were terrorists.”
The attack came days after Hamas attacked from the Gaza Strip in the deadliest-ever attack against Israel.
Israel since then has repeatedly pounded Lebanon, saying it is seeking to eradicate Hezbollah, which like Hamas has enjoyed support from Iran’s clerical government.
AFP’s Assi, who received CPJ’s 2026 International Press Freedom Award, said it was critical to see who in Israel was responsible.
“We need to know who did this to us,” she said.