A Reuters cameraman was killed and several other journalists injured on Friday while on assignment to cover the war between Hamas and Israel in southern Lebanon, his employer said.
Issam Abdallah had been filming live footage near Alma Al-Shaab at the time of his death, Reuters said in a statement.
“We are deeply saddened to learn that our cameraman, Issam Abdallah, has been killed,” the company said in a statement.
“We are urgently seeking more information, working with authorities in the region and supporting Issam’s family and colleagues.”
Reuters journalists Thaer Al-Sudani and Maher Nazeh were also injured, the news service said.
The Reuters live feed was disconnected around 5:30 p.m. local time when the journalists behind the footage were apparently beaten, the Daily Beast noted.
Issam Abdallah took this selfie just hours before he was killed on Friday while working in southern Lebanon.issamabdallah/Instagram
In the disturbing clip, a male voice can be heard shouting: “Fk! Fk!”, while a woman shouts: “What happened?” and “I can’t feel my legs! I do not feel my legs!
Photos of what allegedly happened next also show a vehicle on fire and damaged equipment lying on the ground.
The group is believed to have been hit by an IDF projectile, according to Al Jazeera.
Al Jazeera reporter Carmen Joukhadar and cameraman Elie Brakhya were also among the injured, the outlet said.
The alleged attack came shortly after the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) confirmed retaliatory artillery fire on the Israel-Lebanon border in response to gunfire from Lebanese territory.
“There was a direct projectile that hit the team.” Al Jazeera’s Ali Hashem claimed on air.
The Reuters and Al Jazeera reporters were part of the same convoy and were all wearing jackets and helmets that identified them as journalists at the time of the attack, he said.
Shortly before his death, Issam, who normally resided in Beirut, shared a short clip of a bombing raid on Alma Al-Shaab, as well as a selfie of himself in tactical press gear with smoke rising in the background.
Issam Abdallah normally lived in Beirut, according to his social media. LbIssam/Twitter A journalist’s car burns after being hit by an Israeli shelling in the border village of Alma al-Shaab. AP
The publication was subsequently flooded with messages of tribute.
Some online mourners compared Issam to Shireen Abu Akleh, the Palestinian American journalist who was killed by an Israeli gunman while covering a raid in the West Bank in May 2022.
Maya Gebeily, Reuters bureau chief for Lebanon, Syria and Jordan, tweeted that the team was “deeply saddened” by Issam’s death.
Civil defense workers remove the body of a journalist killed by an Israeli bombing on Friday.AP
On Friday afternoon local time, the IDF confirmed that it was carrying out drone strikes against Hezbollah targets in Lebanon, CNN reported.
The tense border between Israel and Lebanon has been especially heated since Hamas’ surprise attack on Israel last Saturday, amid anxieties about further collaboration between the Gaza Strip-based terrorist group and Iran-backed Hezbollah. .
With postal cables
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Source: vtt.edu.vn