A helmet, first aid kits, and a press vest. (Credit: Illustrative photo by Matthieu Karam/L'Orient-Le Jour)
Agence France-Presse on Friday called for ‘’precise and detailed answers’’ from Israel after its ambassador to France described as a ‘’mistake’’ the Israeli army's attack on journalists in southern Lebanon two years ago that killed a Reuters journalist and wounded others, including two AFP reporters.
’’AFP demands precise and detailed answers regarding what you admit was a 'mistake,'’’ AFP Director of News Phil Chetwynd wrote in a letter sent Friday to Israel's ambassador to France, Joshua Zarka.
On Oct. 13, 2023, a strike killed Reuters videographer Issam and wounded six other journalists, including AFP reporters Dylan Collins and Christina Assi, who later underwent the amputation of her right leg.
During the French television program Complément d'enquête, broadcast Thursday evening on France Télévisions, Zarka acknowledged that the Israeli army had made a ‘’mistake’’ in striking the journalists. He said they ‘’were not targeted because they were journalists’’ but because ‘’the soldiers on site thought they were terrorists.’’
’’These comments amount, in our view, to the first public acknowledgment by an official Israeli representative that the two rounds fired at a clearly identified group of journalists were launched by Israeli forces,’’ Chetwynd wrote.
An independent AFP investigation concluded that two 120 mm tank shells were fired from the Jordeikh area in northern Israel, near the border with southern Lebanon. Other international investigations, including those conducted by Reuters, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International and Reporters Without Borders, reached similar conclusions.
‘’Why has the position you expressed publicly never been communicated directly to AFP in response to its formal requests ?’’ Chetwynd asked in his letter.
Responding to the ambassador's claim that Israel had found vests marked ‘PRESS’ in Hamas and Hezbollah tunnels, which he cited to explain the mistaken identification, Chetwynd said the argument ‘’in no way absolves the Israeli army,’’ which ‘’struck a group of seven clearly identified journalists after prolonged aerial surveillance of the area.’’
Despite the public acknowledgment of a ‘’mistake,’’ ‘’the Israeli army has yet to formally acknowledge its responsibility to AFP, Dylan Collins or Christina Assi,’’ Chetwynd added, asking ‘’what Israel intends to do to deliver justice and compensation to the journalists who were victims of the strike.’’
’’The explanation provided by the Israeli ambassador to France does not answer the central question raised by what appears to be a war crime: Why did Israeli forces repeatedly strike a group of journalists who were clearly identified as such ?’’ said Sara Qudah, regional director of the Committee to Protect Journalists, on Friday.
She called for the release of « all evidence demonstrating that Israeli soldiers mistakenly identified the journalists.’’
