The Committee to Protect Journalists on Tuesday called for pressure on Israel, including possible economic consequences, if it does not hold responsible the troops behind a deadly strike on reporters in Lebanon in 2023. The New York-based press freedom group said the case remains unresolved.
A Reuters journalist was killed and two AFP reporters were seriously wounded on October 13, 2023, when they came under fire in southern Lebanon near the border with Israel. Investigations by both news agencies and several non-governmental groups concluded that Israel carried out the attack.
Calls for EU trade measures and a full probe
The committee said the European Union should consider suspending its free trade agreement with Israel unless Israel accepts responsibility. It also urged the international community to press Israeli officials to complete an investigation that names the units and individuals involved.
Sara Qudah, the group’s Middle East regional director, said the failure to hold those responsible to account “puts other journalists at risk by allowing impunity to persist.” She described suspension of the EU-Israel Association Agreement as one of the few remaining avenues that could create meaningful pressure.
Israeli military response and envoy’s acknowledgement
When AFP asked the Israeli military for an update, it said the incident had been referred to the General Staff Fact-Finding Assessment Mechanism for a comprehensive factual review. It gave no timeline for that review. The military said the IDF does not target journalists and makes efforts to minimise harm to uninvolved civilians.
Israel’s ambassador to France earlier this year acknowledged for the first time that Israeli forces struck the journalists, calling it “a mistake.” Ambassador Joshua Zarka said on French television that the reporters were not targeted because they were journalists, and that soldiers on the ground believed they were terrorists.
Reuters video journalist Issam Abdallah was killed in the strike, which wounded six other journalists. Among the wounded were AFP’s Dylan Collins and Christina Assi, whose leg had to be amputated.
Casualty figures and reaction from the wounded
The committee says 16 journalists and media workers have been killed by Israel in Lebanon since October 2023. It also says Israel is responsible for the deaths of 191 journalists or other media workers in Israel or the occupied Palestinian territories over the same period.
The conflict followed Hamas fighters’ attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, after which Israel launched a war on Gaza and repeatedly struck Lebanon, saying it aims to eradicate Hezbollah. Both Hamas and Hezbollah have enjoyed support from Iran’s clerical government.
Assi, who received the committee’s 2026 International Press Freedom Award, said it was critical to establish who in Israel was responsible. “We need to know who did this to us,” she said.
