US vetoes UN resolution calling for Gaza ceasefire: Live updates

A reporter with Agence-France Presse who survived the Israeli airstrikes in southern Lebanon in October told CNN it was “hard not to see it as a deliberate attack.”

CNN special investigation suggests that Israeli tank fire killed Reuters journalist Issam Abdallah and wounded six other international journalists in a double attack on October 13, confirming reports by several news organizations. two and two categories of human rights.

AFP and Human Rights Watch said in their reports that the attack was a “thoughtful” attack by Israel on journalists.

In a statement to Reuters, Israel Defense Forces spokesman Richard Hecht said: “We do not target journalists.” On Friday, the IDF said the incident was “under review.”

Hecht on October 14 called Abdallah’s death “a tragic event,” without naming him directly or indicating Israel’s involvement.

Dylan Collins, the Lebanon/Syria video coordinator for AFP, told CNN’s Bianna Golodryga that those affected by the tragedy have been struggling ever since with “sadness and exhaustion.”

Collins recounted what began as a “quiet day,” describing how reporters from Reuters and AFP headed into the smoke after hearing “loud” noises in the border between Lebanon and Israel.

“It seems like a good kind of place to start working you know. We show up in a lot of Israeli positions on the border. Everyone was wearing leather jackets, hats and prints written on us. chest. office,” Collins said.
“The Israelis had drones in the air the whole time. And I think you know with their level of surveillance skills, they can see our faces, they probably know where we are. the way we were working … At 6:02 p.m., we were hit right … 37 seconds later, we were hit again in almost the exact same place,” Collins added.

Collins said that although he cannot speak on behalf of Human Rights Watch, he can recount what he witnessed.

“There were two shots 37 seconds apart, almost at the same place in a group of reporters, seven reporters all wearing coats and hats.”
“You can say maybe one hit you can say it’s a mistake, or it’s accidental, they didn’t think about it, but if it’s two hits back to back in the exact same place one, it is very difficult not to see. like a deliberate attack,” Collins added.

Collins reiterated how all investigations “pointed to a thin 120-millimeter round that killed Issam Abdallah,” adding that it was the type of gun fired by Israel’s Merkava tanks.

“I think the evidence is clear as to how that shot was able to be fired,” Collins added.

The reporter of AFP paid tribute to Abdallah, describing him as the “heart attack of journalists” in the Lebanese capital of Beirut.

Collins also gave an account of his AFP colleague, Christina Assi, who suffered “severe” injuries from the beating that forced her to have one of her legs amputated.

“He bleeds more than anyone else should.”