Reuters journalist Issam Abdullah was killed earlier this month in southern Lebanon by a targeted strike from the direction of the Israel border, non-profit organisation Reporters Sans Frontières said on Sunday.
Abdullah was killed in artillery shelling on October 13 while working with several other journalists near a village close to the Lebanon-Israel border. Six other journalists were also injured in the shelling. The region has been witnessing nearly daily exchanges of fire since October 7, when Palestinian militant group Hamas launched a series of attacks on Israel.
After the October 7 attack, Israel launched a series of strikes into Gaza.
The Israel Defense Forces later said it does not intentionally target journalists but added that it was investigating Abdullah’s killing, according to Reuters.
On Sunday, Reporters Sans Frontières, also known as Reporters Without Borders, released a video reconstruction of the shelling in which the Reuters journalist was killed.
It said that initial findings of the investigation showed that Abdullah and the journalists who were injured were “not collateral victims” of the artillery fire. The organisation said the findings were based on a “thorough analysis of eyewitness accounts, video footage and ballistics expertise”.
The organisation, however, did not say who launched the strikes.
Reporters Without Borders said that two strikes about thirty seconds from each other hit the spot where the journalists were standing. The first strike killed Abdullah and seriously injured AFP journalist Christina Assi.
“According to the ballistic analysis carried out by RSF, the shots came from the east of where the journalists were standing; from the direction of the Israeli border,” Reporters Without Borders said. “Two strikes in the same place in such a short space of time [just over 30 seconds], from the same direction, clearly indicate precise targeting.”
The journalists were unlikely to have been mistaken for combatants, especially as they were not hiding, Reporters Without Borders said.
The organisation noted that the journalists were wearing helmets and bullet-proof waistcoats marking them as members of the press. “Their car was also identified as ‘press’ thanks to a marking on the roof, according to witnesses,” the non-profit organisation said.
Reuters said on Sunday that it was reviewing the preliminary conclusion of Reporters Without Borders.
“We reiterate our call to the Israeli authorities to conduct a swift, thorough and transparent probe into what happened,” the news agency said. “And we call upon all other authorities with information about the incident to provide it. We will continue to fight for the rights of all journalists to report the news in the public interest free of harassment or harm, wherever they are.”
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