On October 13, 2023, as journalists from different news outlets were covering the conflict in Alma al-Shaab on the southern border of Lebanon, the Israeli militants launched a series of deliberate shelling attacks on the journalists, killing Issam Abdallah of Reuters and seriously wounding 6 others. Among the wounded are Christina Assi of AFP (Agence France-Presse) who lost her leg in the attack. Carmen Joukhadar and Elie Brakhia reporting for Al Jazeera, Dylan Collins with AFP, Thaer Al-Sudani and Maher Nazeh with Reuters were also wounded.
The footage from the attack was analyzed by the Amnesty Intentional and revealed that the journalists were marked as PRESS and their car had TV plastered on top of it, suggesting the attack was a violation of international law. AI called the attack by Israel a war crime and calls for an investigation to bring accountability and justice for the victims and their families.
The video discusses the importance of journalists documenting events and collecting evidence to piece together what is happening. The affected journalists describe how seeing their friend and colleague die only strengthened their resolve to speak up for those whose voices have been silenced by Israel. They ultimately believe that this experience has made them even more committed to his field.
So far, 63 other journalists have been killed by Israeli militants in Gaza to stop the truth from coming out.