RSF’s secretary-general, Christophe Deloire, said: “Journalists are paying a heavy price. We’ve noted that the number of journalists killed in connection with their work is very high: at least 13 in such a tiny territory. We have filed a complaint with the International Criminal Court (ICC) to establish the facts and to what point journalists were knowingly targeted.”
The first incident of journalists being targeted that came to international attention was on October 13, on Lebanon’s southern border with Israel. Reports of cross-border shelling had drawn a group of seven journalists to the area. According to Reuters, this group was hit by two shells fired in quick succession from Israel. Reuters video journalist Issam Abdallah was killed and AFP photographer Christina Assi was badly wounded and had to have her leg amputated.
At the time, RSF said: “The reporters were not collateral victims of the shooting. One of their vehicles marked ‘press’ was targeted, and it was also clear that the group stationed next to it was journalists.”
Following the incident, Reuters and AFP conducted investigations. Reuters spoke to “more than 30 government and security officials, military experts, forensic investigators, lawyers, medics and witnesses to piece together a detailed account of the incident”. Mobile phone footage from eight media outlets was examined and shrapnel was sent for analysis to the Netherlands Organisation for Applied Scientific Research.
Further investigations were carried out by Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, which, along with RSF, proposed the attacks be investigated as possible war crimes. The Lebanese prime minister, Najib Mikati, said his government was pursuing a complaint filed with the UN security council.
Reuters’ evidence was presented to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), whose international spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Richard Hecht said: “We don’t target journalists.”
Israel’s UN envoy, Gilad Erdan, reiterated this point later, saying: “Obviously, we would never want to hit or shoot any journalist that is doing their job. But you know, we’re in a state of war, things might happen.”
While it might be possible to prove this particular case, backed by the investigative resources of international news organisations, it is going to be a lot more difficult to provide the same level of detail from within the enclosed Gaza Strip, where it is increasingly difficult to gather evidence or even operate as a journalist.
When questioned about the high number of journalist deaths by UK radio station LBC’s Lewis Goodall, the former ambassador and Israeli spokesperson Mark Regev avoided answering by asserting instead that: “Israel is the only country in the region that protects and defends the freedom of the press.”