WASHINGTON: Four US lawmakers on Thursday said there has been no accountability for an October 2023 attack by the Israeli military that struck a group of journalists in Lebanon, killing a Reuters visuals journalist and wounding others.
US Senator Peter Welch from Vermont, the home state of one of the journalists wounded in the attack, accused Israel of not conducting a serious investigation into the incident, saying he had seen no proof of that.
He did not specify what details he had requested from the Israeli government, or what, if anything, he had been given.
Reuters was unable to independently confirm what specific efforts Israel has made to investigate the attack, which it has pledged publicly to review.
On October 13, 2023, an Israeli tank fired two shells in quick succession from Israel as journalists were filming cross-border shelling. The attack killed Reuters visuals journalist Issam Abdallah and severely wounded Agence France-Presse (AFP) photographer Christina Assi.
Car belonging to an Al Jazeera team burns at the site where Reuters visuals journalist Issam Abdallah was killed and six others were wounded by two tank rounds fired from Israel, in Alma al-Chaab, near the border with Israel, southern Lebanon, October 13, 2023. (File/Reuters)
The Israeli military (IDF) has said it does not target journalists but has not offered an explanation for why that Israeli tank unit fired at the group of journalists.
In a news conference organized by two advocacy groups, Welch, a Democrat, said he had been given no written proof of an Israeli investigation into the attack, nor any evidence that Israeli officials have spoken with victims, witnesses, shooters or any of the independent investigators.
In June 2025, Senator Welch’s office was told by the Embassy that the IDF had conducted an investigation into the incident and the conclusion was that none of the soldiers acted outside of the IDF’s rules of engagement.
Standing next to AFP journalist Dylan Collins, an American citizen who was also wounded in the attack, Welch said the Israeli authorities have "stonewalled" him on his pleas for an investigation and gave him conflicting answers. Welch did not give further details about the interactions.
“The IDF has made no effort, none, to seriously investigate this incident,” Welch said. “The IDF claimed they conducted an investigation but there's absolutely no evidence that there was any investigation,” he added.
Welch said the Israeli government told his office the investigation was closed but separately told the AFP that the investigation was active and the findings have not been concluded.
“So which is it? Both can't be true,” Welch said.
Asked by Reuters about Welch's comments and whether its investigation is concluded, an IDF spokesperson said: “The event is still being examined.” The spokesperson did not provide further details.
AFP Regional Director for North America Marc Lavine said they had been seeking full accountability for what happened for more than two years.
“AFP calls on the Israeli authorities to reveal the results of any investigation and to hold those responsible to account,” Lavine said.
Since 2023, Reuters has asked the Israeli military to carry out a swift, thorough and transparent probe into the strike that killed Abdallah. It has still received no explanation from the IDF on the reasons for that strike, according to the news agency.
Reuters’ journalist Issam Abdallah films Ukrainian woman (not pictured) during an interview with Reuters, amid Russia’s attack on Ukraine, in Zaporizhzhya, Ukraine. (File/Reuters)
Democratic US Senator Chris Van Hollen said at the news conference that more needs to be done.
“We have not seen accountability or justice in this case,” Van Hollen said. “It is part of a broader pattern of impunity, of attacks on Americans and on journalists by the government of Israel,” he said.
US Representative Becca Balint and independent US Senator Bernie Sanders, both of whom are also from Vermont, said their efforts to seek justice for the journalists would continue.
In August this year, Israeli forces struck Nasser hospital in the south of the Gaza Strip, killing at least 20 people including journalists who worked for Reuters, the Associated Press, Al Jazeera and other outlets.
An Israeli military official told Reuters at the time that the two journalists for Reuters and the Associated Press who were killed in the Israeli attack were not “a target of the strike”.
