(London) The Reuters agency asked Israeli authorities to conduct “a rapid, thorough and transparent investigation” into the death of its journalist Issam Abdallah on October 13 during an attack in southern Lebanon, on the border with Israel.
“I reiterate my call on the Israeli authorities, who have said they are investigating, to conduct a prompt, thorough and transparent investigation into what happened,” Reuters editor-in-chief Alessandra Galloni said. in a video broadcast Monday evening.
“By transparent, I mean an investigation with clear evidence and explanations,” she added.
“I also asked Lebanon, which said it had gathered evidence about the attack, and any other authority with information to provide it,” continued Alessandra Galloni.
The attack in which Issam Abdallah was killed and six other journalists injured, including two from the AFP, took place in southern Lebanon, on the border with Israel.
Since the start of the war between Israel and Gaza, triggered on October 7 by an unprecedented attack by Hamas, this area has been the scene of shootings between Lebanese Hezbollah and the Israeli army and attempts to infiltrate Israel from Lebanon. . On Tuesday, the Israeli army announced that it had killed four attackers during an infiltration attempt at this border.
Issam Abdallah was killed after being “hit by a shell while filming cross-border shootings between Israel and Lebanon,” explained the editor-in-chief of Reuters, a London-based news agency and part of the Canadian media group. and Thomson Reuters services. “Our witnesses on site said that the shell that killed Issam came from Israel.”
Alessandra Galloni urged “all parties” in the conflict to “respect all media” and “work” with them “to guarantee the safety of journalists.”
Issam Abdallah, 37, was “an experienced, talented and passionate journalist,” she paid tribute. “He was just doing his job when he was killed.”
On Saturday, AFP (Agence France-Presse) called on Israel and Lebanon for “a thorough investigation” into the attack.
“It is crucial that every effort is made to determine how a group of journalists clearly identified as such and duly accredited could have been targeted,” said AFP CEO Fabrice Fries.
The Lebanese army accused Israel of being responsible for the shooting. For its part, the Israeli army said it was “very sorry” for the death of Issam Abdallah without explicitly recognizing its responsibility and claimed to be carrying out “verifications”.