‘Strong Evidence of War Crime’ in Israel’s Killing of Journalists, CPJ Report

A year on from the Oct. 13, 2023, double Israeli strike that killed Reuters video journalist Issam Abdallah and injured six journalists, Israel continues to evade accountability for the targeted attack despite strong evidence of a war crime, finds a new report published Oct. 10, by the Committee to Protect Journalists or CPJ.

The Israeli attack instantly killed Abdallah, a veteran video journalist with extensive experience covering conflict in his native Lebanon, as well as in Syria, Iraq, and Ukraine.

Agence France-Presse (AFP) photojournalist Christina Assi, also from Lebanon, sustained injuries resulting in the amputation of her right leg. Five other journalists were also wounded: AFP’s Dylan Collins, from the United States; Al Jazeera’s Carmen Joukhadar and Elie Brakhya, also from Lebanon; and Reuters’ Thaer Al-Sudani and Maher Nazeh, from Iraq.

In a video published by CPJ on Thursday, Collins narrates the sequence of the attack against the backdrop of footage from the scene.

“The October 13 targeted attack that killed Issam Abdallah and injured six journalists clearly identifiable as press is a continuation of Israel’s decades-long pattern of targeting journalists with impunity,” said CPJ CEO Jodie Ginsberg. “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. With over two decades of targeted attacks on journalists without any consequences, the Israeli military has been granted license to continue this deadly pattern.”

The Oct. 13, 2023 attack was an early example of the Israeli military deliberately targeting journalists for their work after the outbreak of the war on Oct. 7. Since then, CPJ has found that four other journalists, all Palestinians, were deliberately targeted by Israel for their reporting in Gaza. They are: Hamza Al Dahdouh, Mustafa Thuraya, Ismail Al Ghoul, and Rami Al Refee. CPJ is investigating at least 10 other cases of suspected targeting.

The total number of targeted journalists is likely an undercount amid myriad challenges of documenting a war that has killed at least 128 journalists, 126 of them by Israeli fire. Read the report, and learn about CPJ’s efforts in defending and assisting journalists in Gaza since the outbreak of the war.

Global Press Freedom Updates

• CPJ calls for journalists’ safety, freedom following arrests, attacks in Senegal
• Algerian journalist Badreddine Guermat arrested over Facebook post
• Ethiopian state media journalist detained at unknown location
• At least 6 Togolese journalists attacked while covering opposition party meeting
• Chad’s Le Visionnaire newspaper and leadership suspended over fraud report
• Taliban intelligence agents detain journalists Hekmat Aryan and Mahdi Ansary
• Algerian journalist fined, sentenced to 1 year on insult charges
• Kashmiri journalist Sajad Gul released on bail after more than 2-year detention
• At least 3 Ukrainian journalists assaulted over their work
• Italian journalists Stefania Battistini and Simone Traini arrested in absentia over Russia war report
• Authorities suspend Voice of America, extending censorship trend in Burkina Faso
• Croatian government minister Ivan Šipić targets journalist Ante Tomić in online attacks
• DRC journalists Patrick Lokala, Érasme Kasongo arrested, questioned over reporting