Lebanon: RSF and ten organizations call on UN to investigate Israeli attack that killed Issam Abdallah
A month before the anniversary of the death of photojournalist Issam Abdallah, killed by an Israeli strike while reporting in southern Lebanon, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) and ten organisations have sent a letter to the UN Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem and Israel. The letter supports a request made by Abdallah’s family in July for an investigation into the crime.
An abundance of evidence accumulated in five independent investigations, including an RSF investigation, revealed the reporter for the Reuters news agency Issam Abdallah was killed by Israeli targeted fire in the Alma el-Chaab, a village in southern Lebanon. Yet the perpetrators of this crime remain unpunished.
According to the findings of news agencies Reuters and Agence France-Presse (AFP), and the NGOs Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International, the shooting that killed Abdallah and injured journalists from AFP, Reuters, and Al-Jazeera on October 13, 2023 originated from an Israeli tank. A sixth investigation, conducted by the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), found that "an Israeli tank killed Reuters reporter Issam Abdallah in Lebanon last year by firing two 120 mm rounds at a group of ‘clearly identifiable journalists’ in violation of international law," according to Reuters.
Based on these findings, RSF and ten human rights organizations sent a letter to the United Nations on 13 September urging it to conduct an official investigation into the attack. The letter was specifically sent to the UN’s Commission of Inquiry charged with investigating possible international crimes and violations of international human rights law committed in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories since 7 October 2023.
With this letter, RSF and the co-signatories express their support for a similar request for an investigation into the circumstances of Abdallah's murder, made by the reporter's family last June which remains unanswered at the time of this writing.
"Issam Abdallah was killed by the Israeli army with his camera in hand, while wearing his press vest and helmet. This well-documented crime, a testament to the increasing violence against journalists in the region, must not go unpunished. Justice for Issam will open a solid path to justice for all reporters. We urge the Commission to take up this case and help bring justice to the perpetrators of this heinous attack on brave, professional journalists to account."
The complicated path to justice
Since Abdallah’s murder, impunity and obstructions to justice have persisted as neither Lebanon, where the crime took place, nor Israel, the accused perpetrator, are signatories to the Rome Statute. This prevents any recourse to the International Criminal Court (ICC).
Last May, Lebanese members of parliament proposed that Lebanon refer the investigation of crimes committed in southern Lebanon since 7 October to the ICC through an exceptional provision allowed by the Rome Statute. Despite backing from the Ministry of Information and the Lebanese government, the measure was blocked at the last minute. The Israeli authorities, meanwhile, have not published any findings on the murder despite requests for information and their own statements about an investigation. In December, an Israeli military spokesman told Reuters that "the incident took place in an active combat zone and was under review.”
Two other journalists have been killed in southern Lebanon since October 2023: Farah Omar and Rabih Maamari, who worked for the television channel Al-Mayadeen. According to the Lebanese journalists who spoke to RSF, the country’s southern border is now dangerous for reporters, and few professionals from foreign or local agencies dare to work on the ground in that area. Cross-border firing between Israeli forces and Hezbollah has intensified since October 2023, when the war in Gaza began.
