A group of Democratic lawmakers, joined by an American reporter wounded by Israeli strikes in Lebanon in October 2023, demanded accountability for Israel’s alleged systemic targeting of journalists since October 7, 2023.
At a press conference outside the Capitol, Vermont Senator Peter Welch said the Israeli Embassy told him its review found no soldiers violated Israeli military rules of engagement in the strike that wounded his constituent, AFP photojournalist Dylan Collins, killed Reuters video journalist Issam Abdallah, and critically injured AFP photojournalist Christina Assi.
The three were hit during an IDF shelling of Hezbollah positions along the Lebanese border.
However, Israeli officials told AFP in October and the Committee to Protect Journalists in December that the incident was still under review. If Welch’s claim that the preliminary review has been closed is accurate, it would mean the case will not be referred for criminal investigation in Israel.
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U.S. Senator Peter Welch speaks during a press conference about an Israeli strike that hit a group of journalists in southern Lebanon in October 2023, on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., Wednesday. Credit: Evelyn Hockstein/Reuters
U.S. Senator Peter Welch speaks during a press conference about an Israeli strike that hit a group of journalists in southern Lebanon in October 2023, on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., Wednesday. Credit: Evelyn Hockstein/Reuters
The Vermont senator demanded that the Israeli government be held accountable for targeting Collins and other journalists during the war.
“The Netanyahu government has made it crystal clear that they never had serious intentions to investigate the deadly October 2023 attack that wounded Dylan Collins,” Welch said. “For over two years, we have done everything reasonably possible to get answers and accountability, only to be stonewalled at every turn.”
At the press conference, Collins described the incident as “a war crime carried out in broad daylight and broadcast on live television.” He added that, as an American citizen “wounded in an attack carried out by the U.S.’s closest ally in the Middle East,” he expected to receive answers.
Welch and Collins appeared alongside Senator Chris Van Hollen and U.S. Representative Becca Balint.
According to a Reporters Without Borders report released Tuesday, nearly half of all journalists killed worldwide in the past year died in Israeli army strikes in the Gaza Strip.
“The Israeli army is the worst enemy of journalists,” the report states, adding that a total of 220 journalists have been killed in Gaza since Hamas’ attack on October 7, 2023, and the subsequent two-year war waged in the Strip.