The war in the Middle East is also deadly for the corporation of journalists.
An Israeli tank, whose two shell shots killed a Reuters journalist in October and injured six reporters, including two from AFP, in southern Lebanon, "probably" opened fire on the group in a second phase. using a heavy machine gun, according to the latest findings of an analysis carried out on behalf of Reuters by the laboratory of the Netherlands Organization for Applied Scientific Research (TNO).
An investigation published by Reuters in December citing preliminary results of analyzes carried out by TNO, an independent institute specializing in the analysis of munitions and weapons, concluded that two tank shells had been successively fired at a distance of 1.3 km journalists, killing Reuters reporter Issam Abdallah, 37, and injuring two AFP journalists, including photographer Christina Assi, 28, who suffered an amputation of her right leg.
Also read: More than 50 journalists demand free and “unhindered” access to Gaza
An Agence France-Presse investigation, carried out with the British collective of experts and independent investigators Airwars, also concluded in early December that a 120 mm tank shell stabilized by fins, exclusively used by the IDF in the region, was at the origin of the strike.
In its final report, which mentions new audio analyses, TNO reveals that the journalists were then likely the target of .50 caliber (12.7 mm) fire, ammunition used by Browning machine guns that can equip Israeli Merkava tanks.
“The theory of a targeted and deliberate attack”
“It is likely that a Merkava tank, after firing two shells, also used its machine gun against the location where the journalists were,” writes TNO, adding that “this last point cannot be concluded with certainty because the direction and exact distance of the shot (from the machine gun) could not be established.”
These reporters had come to cover cross-border clashes between the Israeli army and armed groups in southern Lebanon, where the international community is worried about the risk of extension of the conflict between Israel and Hamas.
The succession of two strikes, spaced 37 seconds apart, shows that they were targeted, according to experts interviewed by AFP and Airwars.
The journalists were also clearly identifiable.
Two other investigations carried out separately by the human rights organizations Human Rights Watch (HRW) and Amnesty International, both refer to “Israeli strikes”.
“The TNO report, which strongly suggests that the journalists were subjected to heavy machine gun fire, adds weight to the theory of a targeted and deliberate attack,” reacted Thursday the director of information of the AFP, Phil Chetwynd, reiterating his call for a thorough investigation by the Israeli military.
After the October 13 strike, the Israeli army only claimed that the location where the journalists were located was “an active combat zone.”