Israel-Hamas War: UN Spokesperson Calls Investigation Into Reuters & Other Journalists’ Death

New Delhi: A Reuters video journalist, Issam Abdallah, was killed and six other journalists injured in southern Lebanon on Friday when missiles fired from the direction of Israel struck them, news agency Reuters reported. An Associated Press photographer at the scene saw the body of Reuters videographer Abdallah and the six, including from Al Jazeera and Agence France-Presse, who were wounded, some of whom were rushed to hospitals in ambulances. Images from the scene showed a charred car.

The group of journalists were working near Alma al-Shaab, close to the Israel border, where the Israeli military and Lebanese militia Hezbollah have been trading fire in border clashes, Reuters reported.

At least 11 journalists have died over the past week in the deadly confrontation between Hamas and Israel. According to Reporters Without Borders, “Five Palestinian journalists are among the hundreds of civilians who have been killed in the military offensive by Hamas and the response by the Israel Defense Forces.” At least one journalist working in Israel was also killed.

The Committee to Protect Journalists is investigating the journalists killed in Israel and Gaza and is compiling an updated list of the dead, missing and injured, Pynter. reported.

Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati and a Hezbollah lawmaker blamed the killing of the Reuters journalist on Israel.

The Israel Defense Forces or IDF did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Israel’s UN envoy Gilad Erdan said in a briefing on Friday: “Obviously, we would never want to hit or kill or shoot any journalist that is doing its job. But you know, we are in a state of war, things might happen.” He added that Israel will investigate the incident.

Reuters said in a statement that Abdallah had been killed while providing a live video signal for broadcasters. The camera was pointed at a hillside when a loud explosion shook the camera, filling the air with smoke, and screams were heard.

“We are deeply saddened to learn that our videographer, Issam Abdallah, has been killed,” the news agency said in the statement.

“We are urgently seeking more information, working with authorities in the region, and supporting Issam’s family and colleagues,” it added.

Two other Reuters journalists, Thaer Al-Sudani and Maher Nazeh, were also wounded in the incident and released from a hospital after receiving medical care. Nazeh said Reuters and the two other news organisations were filming missile fire coming from the direction of Israel when one struck Abdallah as he was sitting on a low stone wall near the rest of the group.

Seconds later, another missile hit the car being used by the group, setting it aflame. While AP and Al Jazeera claimed that the shells were Israeli, Reuters said it could not establish whether the missiles had actually been fired by Israel.

At the United Nations, Secretary-General António Guterres expressed condolences to the family of the killed journalists. “So many journalists are paying with their lives to bring truth to everybody,” he said.

UN spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric earlier said that the world body hopes for an investigation into what happened. “Journalists need to be protected and allowed to do their work,” he said.

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.

Reporters Without Borders and the Committee to Protect Journalists have identified more journalists who have died from gunshots in the opening days of this war.

Two more journalists, Ain Media’s Haitham Abdelwahid and Nidal Al-Wahidi, are missing and may have been captured by Israeli forces, Poynter. reported, adding that local media offices in Gaza have experienced gunfire and worse. An Israeli airstrike destroyed the independent newspaper Al-Ayyam, located in the Palestine Tower in Gaza, but the news organisation is still publishing online.

In May 2023, the Committee to Protect Journalists published  “Deadly Patter”, which documented how nobody has been held accountable for nearly two dozen journalist deaths prior to this week. The Gaza Strip and the West Bank are among the most dangerous zones on the planet for working journalists. In the last decade, 22 journalists have died there. A fourth of those deaths occurred this week. The committee’s investigation found a pattern of Israeli responses to calls for investigations into the deaths of journalists: