A joint investigation conducted by AFP and British independent investigators Airwars into the strikes that killed Reuters journalist Issam Abdallah and injured six other reporters points to Israel.
An Agence France-Presse investigation, published on Thursday, into the bombing that killed a Reuters journalist and wounded six other reporters, including two from AFP, in southern Lebanon on October 13 suggests that an Israeli tank shell was responsible.
Issam Abdallah, 37, was killed while working with six journalists near the border with Israel. Two colleagues from Reuters, two journalists from Al-Jazeera, and two from AFP were wounded, including photographer Christina Assi, 28, who was seriously injured, had her right leg amputated, and remains hospitalized. The journalists had come to cover cross-border clashes between the Israeli army and Hezbollah, with the latter opening the southern front in support of Hamas in the war with Israel.
AFP conducted its investigation, analyzing and cross-checking images from six media outlets present that day with testimonies from journalists, residents, and security sources. The investigation, which lasted seven weeks, was carried out jointly with the British collective of independent experts and investigators, Airwars.
A 120 mm Tank Shell
Six weapons experts consulted by AFP and Airwars have analyzed photos of a significant fragment of ammunition discovered after the bombing, situated very close to the remains of Issam Abdallah. This fragment originates from the initial strike, the one that resulted in the death of a Reuters journalist and injuries to Christina Assi.
The experts — consisting of two former British Army officers, an ex-Irish officer, and three weapons experts with experience in conflict zone investigations — unanimously agreed that it is a segment of a fin-stabilized 120 mm tank shell. These shells are typically employed by the Israeli Army in its Merkava tanks and are identified as the source of the fatal strike.
“This is a tank shell whose rear fins deploy upon firing, stabilizing it in flight, enhancing accuracy, and extending its range,” explained Chris Cobb-Smith, a security consultant and former British artillery officer who has dealt with this type of ammunition on multiple occasions. Fragments of such shells were found during the 2008 and 2012 wars in Gaza, according to Cobb-Smith.
The analysts, having identified three potential Israeli-made models, all featuring identical tail fins and compatible with Merkava 3 and 4 tanks, asserted that no other military group or organization in the region employs this particular type of ammunition.
Strike from Jordeikh
Emphasizing the targeted nature of the strikes, with a 37-second interval between them, the experts highlight that the journalists were identifiable. Although the exact tank responsible has not been identified, the investigation has pinpointed a military position near the Israeli village of Jordeikh, from which, according to the experts, the fatal tank shell likely originated.
In fact, according to the investigation, at the time of the strike, the journalists had their cameras pointed in a south-westerly direction, toward a base near the Israeli town of Hanita.
In footage shot by video journalist Dylan Collins 45 seconds before the fatal strike, a projectile can be seen flying from this position toward the Lebanese hills in the distance. The Reuters zoom shows more clearly a tank firing and then moving behind the vegetation. But at no point in any of the video recordings do we see or hear the projectile that is about to hit them. The first shot hit the journalists from the side, not the front, as indicated by the orientation of the debris on the wall near Issam Abdallah, which stretches from east to west for some ten meters. According to military experts consulted by AFP, given the position of this debris, the shot came from the east.
The probable origin of the strike was the area around the Israeli village of Jordeikh, to the southeast. Approximately 45 minutes before the journalists were hit, the AFP camera, which was pointing southeast at the time, picked up the sound of ammunition being fired from that direction and filmed a halo of smoke rising from the area around Jordeikh.
Satellite images from the same morning and the following day, recovered by AFP, also show the presence of military vehicles of the same dimensions as the Merkava tanks in the vicinity of Jordeikh.
Targeted Strikes
The nature of the weapon used in the second strike, which blew up the Al-Jazeera car, has not been established, with some experts believing that it was also a tank shell and others suggesting that it may have been fired from a drone or even a helicopter.
But all agreed on one point: the fact that the two strikes fell 37 seconds apart, four or five meters apart, ruled out any accidental bombing.
The investigation also sought to establish whether the journalists could have been mistaken for fighters belonging to Hezbollah or Palestinian groups such as the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, or the al-Quds Brigades, the military wing of Palestinian Islamic Jihad, which has launched several attacks in northern Israel in recent weeks.
AFP’s investigation failed to determine which military unit was involved or from which level of command the order to fire came.
Two other separate investigations by the human rights organizations Human Rights Watch (HRW) and Amnesty International, which AFP was able to consult before publication, both point to “Israeli strikes.” A Reuters investigation also came to the same conclusions.
Asked by AFP about the conclusions of its joint investigation with Airwars, the Israeli Army did not reply.
It initially said it was “very sorry” about the death of journalist Issam Abdallah but did not acknowledge responsibility, saying it was carrying out “verifications.”
“AFP has made it very clear that it will pursue all legal means it deems possible and appropriate to ensure that justice is done for Christina and Issam,” said AFP News Director Phil Chetwynd.
Two other journalists, Farah Omar and Rabih Maamari, from the pro-Iranian channel Al-Mayadeen, and their assistant, Hussein Akil, were killed by Israeli strikes on November 21. On November 13, a journalist from Al-Jazeera was slightly injured.
AFP
