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by Naharnet Newsdesk 13 October 2026, 11:21<\/p>\n
The Committee to Protect Journalists on Tuesday urged pressure on Israel including potential economic consequences if it does not hold responsible troops behind a deadly 2023 strike on reporters in Lebanon.<\/p>\n
A Reuters journalist was killed and two AFP reporters were seriously wounded when they came under fire in southern Lebanon close to the border with Israel on October 13, 2023.<\/p>\n
Investigations by both news agencies as well as several non-governmental groups concluded that Israel carried out the attack.<\/p>\n
The Committee to Protect Journalists, a New York-based group advocating freedom of the press, said that the European Union should consider a suspension of its agreement allowing free trade with Israel unless Israel takes responsibility.<\/p>\n
“With Israel’s blatant failure to take accountability, we call on the international community to pressure Israeli officials to complete a probe naming the units and individuals responsible for the deliberate attacks against journalists,” said Sara Qudah, Middle East regional director for the Committee to Protect Journalists.<\/p>\n
“The failure to hold those responsible to account,” she said, “puts other journalists at risk by allowing impunity to persist.”<\/p>\n
“The suspension of the EU-Israel Association Agreement is one of the few remaining avenues that could create a meaningful pressure to break this cycle of impunity,” she said.<\/p>\n
The Israeli military, asked by AFP for an update on the case, said the incident had been “referred to the General Staff Fact-Finding Assessment Mechanism for a comprehensive factual review”, without further details on a timeline.<\/p>\n
“The IDF does not target journalists. The IDF makes every effort to minimize harm to uninvolved civilians while maintaining the security of its troops,” it said.<\/p>\n
“The IDF regrets any harm caused to journalists, respects press freedom and their important role, and does not target journalists on the basis of their profession.”<\/p>\n
– Israeli envoy says strike a ‘mistake’ –<\/p>\n
Reuters video journalist Issam Abdallah was killed in the strike, which wounded six other journalists.<\/p>\n
They included AFP’s Dylan Collins and Christina Assi, whose leg had to be amputated after the attack.<\/p>\n
Israel’s ambassador to France earlier this year for the first time acknowledged that Israeli forces struck the journalists and said it was “a mistake”.<\/p>\n
Ambassador Joshua Zarka, speaking on French television, said the reporters “were not targeted because they were journalists” as “the soldiers on the ground thought that they were terrorists”.<\/p>\n
The attack came days after Hamas attacked from the Gaza Strip in the deadliest-ever attack against Israel.<\/p>\n
Israel since then has repeatedly pounded Lebanon, saying it is seeking to eradicate Hezbollah, which like Hamas has enjoyed support from Iran’s clerical government.<\/p>\n
AFP’s Assi, who received CPJ’s 2026 International Press Freedom Award, said it was critical to see who in Israel was responsible.<\/p>\n
“We need to know who did this to us,” she said.<\/p>\n
Source: Agence France Presse<\/p>\n
Copyright \u00a9 2012 Naharnet.com. All Rights Reserved.<\/p>\n
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