An Israeli tank crew killed a Reuters reporter in Lebanon last October when it fired two shells at a group of clearly identified journalists, according to a report, revealing that the tank had "likely" opened fire on them with a heavy machine gun in an ambush.
The Netherlands Organization for Applied Scientific Research (TNO) was recruited by Reuters to analyze select evidence from the Oct. 13 attack. Reuters' investigation began in December and covered TNO's preliminary finding that a tank had fired at the journalist.
In the final report on Thursday, the organization disclosed that an Al Jazeera video camera from the scene had picked up audio that appeared to confirm the reporters had also come under fire from 0.50 caliber rounds of the kind used by the Browning machine guns that are typically mounted on Israel's Merkava tanks.
"It is considered a likely scenario that a Merkava tank, after firing two tank rounds, also used its machine gun against the location of the journalists," TNO's report said. "The latter cannot be concluded with certainty as the direction and exact distance of (the machine gun) fire could not be established."
Visuals journalist Issam Abdallah was killed in Israel by a tank aimed 1.34 km away from the reporters after it fired two 120 mm rounds toward them.
Abdullah, 37, was killed instantly by the first shell, and Agence France-Presse (AFP) photographer Christina Assi, 28, was left severely wounded.
Whether the Israeli tank crew knew it was firing at the journalists, and if so, why, could not be independently determined by Reuters.
Two surviving Reuters reporters and another AFP journalist could not recall machine gun fire for sure and only remembered the instant shock at the time.
The Israel Defense Forces said it was working on a response to Reuters questions regarding the situation.
When asked to comment on TNO's findings in December, the IDF said, "We don't target journalists."
A day after Reuters published the investigation report, The IDF claimed the incident occurred in an active combat zone.
International law prohibits attacks of any kind against journalists, as news media retain full protection granted to civilians. Under no circumstance are they to be considered military targets.
"We condemn, in the strongest terms, the attack on a clearly identifiable group of journalists, working in the open. The attack killed our colleague Issam Abdallah and injured several others. We reiterate our calls on Israel to explain how this could have happened and to hold those responsible to account," Reuters Editor-in-Chief Alessandra Galloni said.
Phil Chetwynd, AFP Global News Director, made several calls for a thorough and transparent investigation by the Israeli military.
"If reports of sustained machine gun fire are confirmed, this would add more weight to the theory this was a targeted and deliberate attack," he said.
Al Jazeera's manager of international communications, Ihtisham Hibatullah, has also urged the Israeli government to reveal the findings of its own investigation.
"This incident strongly indicates intentional targeting, as confirmed by investigations, including by TNO," he said.
One day after the attack, the Israeli military announced it had visuals of the incident and said it was being looked into. No developments have been made public.
