Global demands for investigation into attacks on journalists in south Lebanon

More than 120 organizations, media outlets, personalities, and survivors submitted two official letters to the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, and the Director-General of UNESCO, Audrey Azoulay, demanding an independent investigation into Israel's targeting of journalists in southern Lebanon.

Israeli strikes in southern Lebanon on October 13 resulted in the death of Reuters photographer Issam Abdallah and the injury of six other journalists, including a photographer for Agence France-Presse, Dylan Collins, and Christina Assi, who had her foot amputated and is still recovering in the hospital. 

Correspondent Farah Omar and photographer Rabih Maamari from "Al Mayadeen" channel were also killed due to an Israeli strike targeting them on November 21.

Signatories of the letters, including Collins and Assi, called on Türk to "conduct an independent investigation through independent human rights experts appointed by his office to uncover the facts related to these attacks and publish a report identifying the responsibilities."

They urged Azoulay "based on her responsibility to promote the safety of journalists and combat impunity for those who target them" to "condemn Israel's targeting of journalists in southern Lebanon (...) and call for holding Israel accountable for the crimes of this war and supporting the request addressed to the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights to conduct an independent investigation into the matter."

The letters included summaries of separate investigations conducted by organizations such as Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, Reporters Without Borders, and the news agencies Agence France-Presse and Reuters regarding targeting journalists on October 13.

An investigation by Agence France-Presse, whose results were published on December 7, showed that the strike that killed Abdallah and injured the other six journalists resulted from a shell fired by an Israeli tank.

According to the investigation conducted in collaboration with the British non-governmental organization Airwars, which specialized in investigating attacks targeting civilians in conflict zones, two shells targeted the journalists with only a 37-second interval between them, indicating, according to experts, that the strike was targeted, knowing that the people gathered at the site were journalists.

Investigations by Reuters, Amnesty International, and Human Rights Watch also concluded that "the strike was Israeli."

AFP