Journalists' protective vests inside a destroyed car at the site of an Israeli strike in Hasbaya, southern Lebanon, which killed three journalists, Oct. 25, 2024. (Credit: Ali Hankiri/AFP)
Human Rights Watch (HRW) said on Monday an Israeli air strike that killed three journalists in Lebanon last month was an "apparent war crime" and used a bomb equipped with a US-made guidance kit.
“Israel’s use of U.S. arms to unlawfully attack and kill journalists away from any military target is a terrible mark on the United States as well as Israel,” said Richard Weir, senior crisis, conflict and arms researcher at Human Rights Watch.
“The Israeli military’s previous deadly attacks on journalists without any consequences give little hope for accountability in this or future violations against the media.”
The October 25 strike hit a tourism complex in the southern Lebanese town of Hasbaya where more than a dozen journalists working for Lebanese and Arab media outlets were sleeping.
After initially stating that its forces struck a building where “terrorists were operating,” the Israeli military said hours later that “the incident is under review,” reported HRW.
HRW said the strike, far from the Israel-Hezbollah war's main flashpoints, "was most likely a deliberate attack on civilians and an apparent war crime."
"Information Human Rights Watch reviewed indicates that the Israeli military knew or should have known that journalists were staying in the area and in the targeted building," the watchdog said in a statement.
HRW "found no evidence of fighting, military forces, or military activity in the immediate area at the time of the attack," it added.
The strike killed cameraman Ghassan Najjar and broadcast engineer Mohammad Reda from pan-Arab, Beirut-based broadcaster Al Mayadeen, which is aligned with Hezbollah, and video journalist Wissam Qassem from Hezbollah's al-Manar television.
The watchdog said it verified images of Najjar's casket wrapped in a Hezbollah flag and buried in a cemetery alongside fighters from the militant group.
But a Hezbollah spokesperson said that Najjar had asked to be buried near his friend and colleague al-Maamari, and he "had no involvement whatsoever in any military activities."
HRW said the bomb dropped by Israeli forces was equipped with a United States-produced Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM) guidance kit.
The JDAM is "affixed to air-dropped bombs and allows them to be guided to a target by using satellite coordinates," the statement said.It said remnants from the site were consistent with a JDAM kit "assembled and sold by the U.S. company Boeing."
One remnant "bore a numerical code identifying it as having been manufactured by Woodard, a U.S. company that makes components for guidance systems on munitions," it added.
The watchdog said it contacted Boeing and Woodard but received no response.
In October last year, Reuters journalist Issam Abdallah was killed by Israeli shellfire while he was covering southern Lebanon, and six other journalists were wounded, including AFP's Dylan Collins and Christina Assi, who had to have her right leg amputated.
In November last year, Israeli bombardment killed Al-Mayadeen correspondent Farah Omar and cameraman Rabih Maamari, the channel said.
Lebanese rights groups have said five more journalists and photographers working for local media have been killed in Israeli strikes on the country's south and Beirut's southern suburbs.
HRW concluded by stating that Israel's key allies — U.S., UK, Canada and Germany — should "suspend military assistance and arms sales to Israel, given the real risk that they will be used to commit grave abuses."
“As evidence mounts of Israel’s unlawful use of U.S. weapons, including in apparent war crimes, U.S. officials need to decide whether they will uphold U.S. and international law by halting arms sales to Israel or risk being found legally complicit in serious violations,” Weir stated.
On Oct. 28, Lebanon said it had submitted a complaint to the United Nations Security Council over an Israeli strike that killed three journalists.