News agency accuses Israel of killing journalist, possible war crime: Updates
Editor's Note: For the latest news on the Israel-Hamas conflict, please see our live updates file here.
An investigation revealed Israeli tank fire killed a Reuters video journalist and injured six reporters Oct. 13 in Lebanon, the news agency said Thursday, in what two human rights organizations concluded was probably an intentional attack and war crime.
Videographer Issam Abdallah, 37, who had covered wars for years, was filming Israeli shelling less than a mile away from the border with Lebanon when a round hit a group of journalists from Reuters, Agence France-Presse and Al Jazeera, killing Abdallah, Reuters said its investigation showed. A second strike less than 40 minutes later severely injured AFP photographer Christina Assi, 28.
Amnesty International said its own investigation concluded the strikes were "likely a direct attack on civilians that must be investigated as a war crime.'' Human Rights Watch issued a report calling the shelling "an apparently deliberate attack on civilians and thus a war crime."
Reuters said its investigation included conducting interviews with more than 30 sources, reviewing extensive photos and video footage as well as studying evidence from the site.
“The evidence we now have, and have published today, shows that an Israeli tank crew killed our colleague Issam Abdallah,” Reuters editor-in-chief Alessandra Galloni said, condemning the attack and asking Israel for an explanation.
After presenting the findings to the Israel Defense Forces and asking whether its troops were aware they were firing at journalists, Reuters said it was told by Lieutenant Colonel Richard Hecht, an IDF spokesman, “We don’t target journalists.” That was his only comment, Reuters said.
Released hostages slam Israel: Captives say they feared airstrikes 'would kill us'
Developing:
∎ The Israeli military published receipts it said were seized in Gaza raids showing thousands of dollars spent on luxury jewelry by the son of Ismail Haniya, the head of the Hamas political bureau. The spending reflects the "disconnection and gap" between impoverished Gaza residents and Hamas leadership, the army said.
∎ Israel said militants were firing rockets from open areas near Rafah in the humanitarian zone, pressing its case that Hamas exposes civilians to harm with videos showing what it said were launchers positioned outside the city and within a few hundred yards of a U.N. warehouse.
∎ The Israel Defense Forces said the death toll of its soldiers has risen to 87 since Oct. 7, when 1,200 Israelis were killed, most of them civilians. The military also says it has killed about 5,000 militants and has acknowledged that about two Palestinian civilians have died for every militant.
∎ On Thursday, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said casualties are still too high in a call with Israeli Minister of Strategic Affairs Ron Dermer, a senior State Department official told the Associated Press. Blinken told Dermer that Israel must do more to allow humanitarian aid into Gaza.
UN warn about 'safe zones' in Gaza
United Nations officials said there are no "safe zones" in Gaza and reiterated calls for a humanitarian cease-fire. According to Philippe Lazzarini, commissioner general of the U.N. Relief and Works Agency, more than 80 U.N. facilities in the Gaza Strip have been hit.
The escalation of fighting in and around the city of Khan Younis has displaced tens of thousands of people in addition to cutting off the majority of humanitarian aid deliveries. More than 80% of the territory’s population has already fled their homes.
UNICEF spokesperson James Elder said in a post on X Thursday that so-called designated safe zones have a risk of spreading disease.
"These zones are tiny patches of barren land with no water, no facilities, no shelter from the cold and the rain, no sanitation," Elder said. "Expecting hundreds of thousands of people to relocate again and again, in the middle of a war with no pause in fighting, is simply unworkable.”
US veto crucial as UN chief presses for cease-fire
Members of the U.N. Security Council on Thursday were considering a draft resolution demanding a cease-fire in the Gaza Strip after Secretary-General Antonio Guterres exercised rarely used authority to urge a halt to the war.
Guterres on Wednesday invoked Article 99, which allows him to bring to the Security Council “any matter which, in his opinion, may threaten the maintenance of international peace and security.” The United Arab Emirates, a Security Council member, responded by submitting a draft cease-fire resolution expressing “grave concern over the catastrophic situation in the Gaza Strip and the suffering” of civilians in Gaza.
“We cannot wait,” the UAE’s U.N. mission said in a statement. “The Council needs to act decisively to demand a humanitarian cease-fire.”
The U.S., however, holds veto power and has balked at supporting tough language targeting Israel. Since the brutal attack on Israel by Hamas militants Oct. 7 prompted Israel’s siege of Gaza, the Security Council has passed one resolution calling for “urgent an extended humanitarian pauses.” That resolution came after four failed attempts to find consensus.
A weeklong pause that allowed for the release of more than 100 hostages seized by Hamas ended last week, and Israel has pressed its war on Hamas deeper into southern Gaza. More than 16,000 Palestinians, most of them civilians, have been killed since the war began.
Guterres invoked Article 99 for the first time in his six-year tenure: “Facing a severe risk of collapse of the humanitarian system in Gaza, I urge the Council to help avert a humanitarian catastrophe and appeal for a humanitarian cease-fire to be declared.”
Aid agencies: More help is needed and they can't provide it
More than two dozen aid groups have signed a statement warning they can't increase the amount of desperately needed aid flowing into Gaza until the fighting is halted. The signees, which include multiple U.N. agencies, Doctors Without Borders and others, also warn that the risk of disease outbreaks is high and climbing as the population suffers from a virtual halt in vaccination activities and lack of medicines for treating communicable diseases.
"The humanitarian situation in Gaza is catastrophic; it is amongst the worst we have witnessed and will likely only get worse as hostilities continue," the statement says. "The large majority of the civilian population is in desperate need of humanitarian assistance and protection."
Israel says it is trying to curb civilian deaths
Israel says it is being more selective in its evacuation orders in southern Gaza in an effort to minimize the war's impact on Palestinian civilians. Israel began its war in northern Gaza, ordering evacuation of the entire region. Northern and central Gaza have become isolated and cut off from aid, forcing Palestinians to head south to Rafah and other areas along the border with Egypt.
But even Rafah is not safe. A strike late Wednesday leveled a home in Rafah, and locals said around 20 people were killed. Another house was hit early Thursday, residents said.
Izzat Al-Rishq, a member of the Hamas political bureau, rejected U.S. National Security Council spokesman John Kirby's claim that Israel is taking steps to remove innocent people from combat zones where Hamas deliberately places them. Al-Rishq accused Kirby of a "blatant attempt to wash the occupation of its crimes and polish its image stained with the blood of children and women."
U.S. support for Israel, Al-Rishq said, "makes them partners in shedding the blood of our people in Gaza and forever demolishes all their slogans about freedom and human rights."
Shots fired outside New York temple
One man is in custody after firing two shots outside Temple Israel in Albany, New York hours before the start of Hanukkah, officials said Thursday. No injuries were reported.
A 28-year-old man said “Free Palestine” as he was being detained, according to officials. Police did not identify the man, but New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said he was a local resident.
The incident was being investigated as a hate crime, and there was no indication other people were involved, Albany Police Chief Eric Hawkins said.
A passerby talked to the gunman near the temple about 10 minutes after shots were fired. Hawkins said the man dropped the shotgun before officers arrived and detained him.
“Any act of antisemitism is unacceptable, and undermining public safety at a synagogue on the first night of Hanukkah is even more deplorable,” Hochul said. “As New Yorkers, we must stand united: this is not who we are. We reject hate, antisemitism and violence in all forms.”
Contributing: Minnah Arshad, USA TODAY; The Associated Press
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Israel Hamas war updates: News agency says IDF killed journalist
