TWO Israeli tank shells were used in an attack that killed a Reuters visual journalist and wounded six others in South Lebanon on October 13. According to a report by the Dutch Applied Scientific Research Organization (TNO) published on Thursday (7/3), an Israeli tank crew fired two bullets at a group of clearly identified journalists and lasted for 1 minute 45 seconds at a distance of 1.34 km.
The first bullet killed Abdallah, 37, and seriously wounded Agence France-Presse (AFP) photographer Christina Assi, 28. Meanwhile a Reuters investigation in December included TNO’s initial finding that a tank in Israel had fired on journalists.
In its final report on Thursday, the agency revealed that audio captured by Al-Jazeera video cameras at the scene showed that journalists also came under fire from 0.50 caliber bullets used by Israeli Merkava tank-mountable Browning machine guns.
“A possible scenario is that the Merkava tank, following firing two tank shells, also uses its machine gun at the location of the journalists,” the TNO report said. “This last point cannot be concluded with certainty because the exact direction and distance of the (machine gun) fire cannot be determined,” he added.
Reuters might not independently determine whether the Israeli tank crew knew whether the soldiers were shooting at the journalists or whether they were shooting at them with machine guns. If so, their reasons are questionable.
Neither of the two surviving Reuters reporters nor any other AFP journalists at the scene recalled the machine gun fire. All said they were in shock at the time.
Also read: Reuters: Israeli tank fire kills journalist in Lebanon
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) did not respond to requests for comment regarding any aspect of the attacks on journalists. When asked to comment on TNO’s initial findings in December, the IDF said it did not target journalists.
The day following the Reuters investigation was published, it said the incident occurred in an active combat zone. International humanitarian law prohibits attacks on journalists because those in the news media have the full scope of protection afforded to civilians and cannot be considered military targets.
“We condemn, in the strongest terms, the attack on a group of clearly identifiable journalists working in the open. The attack killed our colleague Issam Abdallah and injured several others. We reiterate our call to Israel to explain that this might happen and to hold them accountable,” said Reuters Editor-in-Chief Alessandra Galloni.
Also read: Investigation of attacks on journalists in Lebanon points to Israeli tanks
AFP Global News Director Phil Chetwynd reiterated his call for a thorough and transparent investigation by the Israeli military. “If reports of sustained machine gun fire are substantiated, this would add weight to the theory that this was a targeted and deliberate attack,” he said.
Ihtisham Hibatullah, Al-Jazeera’s international communications manager, urged the Israeli government to reveal the findings of its own investigation. “This incident strongly indicates that there was deliberate targeting as confirmed by investigations, including by TNO,” he said.
Lebanon’s Information Minister did not respond to a request for comment. The 70-page TNO report describes the work of the independent research institute in The Hague to triangulate the firing points of tank shells and analyze audio of machine gun fire.
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TNO noted that the seven journalists were wearing bulletproof jackets and blue helmets. Most say PRESS in white letters. They had filmed cross-border shooting from long range in an open area on a hill near the village of Alma Al-Chaab in Lebanon for almost an hour before the attack.
Video footage of the followingmath of the attack also showed Reuters’ black car marked TV with large yellow letters made from tape on the hood and roof. TNO said there was a clear line of sight from where the tank shells were fired to the location of the attack. In live TV broadcasts before the attack, one or more drones might be heard and an Israeli helicopter was also seen overhead in some footage.
This institution can know for certain the source where the two tank bullets came from. This is because there is video of the explosion and the muzzle flight of the second bullet, in addition to the audio files recorded at the scene.
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TNO analysis of machine gun fire showed that the only reasonable match was a 0.50 caliber weapon fired from 1.34 km or the same distance as a tank shell but the audio recording did not adequately determine the point of fire. However, the fact that the burst of shells occurred so quickly following the tank fire, coupled with analysis, led TNO to conclude that the shells most likely came from the same place. Independent agencies do not offer other scenarios regarding the origin of the machine gun fire.
About 30 seconds following the second tank round, there was a burst of regarding 25 shots from the machine gun, followed by nine and 12 shots. More than 30 seconds later, there were three gunshots, then another shot and a metallic ping, which may have been a bullet hitting a low wall near the camera.
Reuters photographer Thaier Al-Sudani, 47, cameraman Maher Nazeh, 53, as well as two journalists from Al-Jazeera, and another from AFP were also injured in the attack. (CNA/Z-2)
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