US lawmakers, rights groups demand accountability for targeted Israeli attack on journalists

​​​​​​​WASHINGTON

US lawmakers joined the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) on Thursday to demand accountability from Israel and the Trump administration for the “targeted” Israeli attack that wounded American AFP journalist Dylan Collins and killed Reuters journalist Issam Abdallah in southern Lebanon in 2023.

At a news conference on Capitol Hill, Sen. Peter Welch said the journalists “were clearly marked as press … in the direct line of sight from IDF across the border,” when they were attacked Oct. 13.

Welch said he is sending his seventh letter to the State Department seeking answers to “very simple questions,” including which Israeli unit fired the shots and whether either government conducted an investigation.

“We don't even have an answer to whether there was an investigation,” he said.

Rep. Becca Balint called the attack “devastating,” and said, “We demand accountability … We're not letting it go. It doesn't matter how long they stonewall us.”

Sen. Chris Van Hollen said the failure to investigate the case is part of a “broader pattern of impunity” involving attacks on journalists and American nationals by Israel.

He cited the killing of Palestinian American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh by Israeli forces while covering a raid on the Jenin refugee camp in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, noting that “still no accountability, still no justice.”

He accused the previous Biden administration and the current Trump administration of failing to pursue justice. “This is a dereliction of duty … they say that their number one duty to Americans overseas is to protect them, and yet they're failing to do that in this case,” he said.

Collins said the group of seven journalists in southern Lebanon had been fully visible to multiple Israeli positions and “to the drones that were circling us overhead.”

“We thought the fact that we could be seen was a good thing,” he said.

He noted how two Israeli tank rounds hit the same spot 37 seconds apart, killing Abdallah and gravely injuring photojournalist Christina Assi.

CPJ’s Amelia Evans said Israel has killed at least 249 journalists since Oct. 7, 2020, an “unprecedented” toll, adding that 59 were killed in “deliberate targeted attacks.”

Amnesty’s Elizabeth Rghebi said Israel “must not be allowed to continue killing and injuring civilians, including journalists, with impunity.”

According to Palestinian health authorities, Israel’s genocidal war in the Gaza Strip has killed more than 70,300 victims and injured over 171,000 since October 2023.

Israel continues to block foreign journalists from independently entering Gaza despite a cease-fire despite a ceasefire that took effect in October.