JERUSALEM, Oct 14 (Portal) – The Israeli army said on Saturday it was investigating an incident in southern Lebanon in which a Portal journalist was killed. A Portal witness at the scene said he was hit by rockets fired from the direction of Israel.
“We are aware of the incident with the Portal journalist,” army spokesman Lt. Col. Richard Hecht said at a regular news conference. “We are looking into the matter. We already have footage. We’re cross-examining. It’s a tragic thing,” he said.
Lebanon said on Saturday it would lodge a formal complaint with the UN Security Council over “Israel’s deliberate killing” of Portal video journalist Issam Abdallah, a Lebanese citizen, state media reported.
Abdallah was with a group of journalists from other organizations, including Al Jazeera and Agence France-Presse, when he was killed on Friday while providing a live video signal for broadcasters.
[1/7]Fatma Kanso, mother of Issam Abdullah, a Lebanese citizen and Portal video journalist killed by Israeli shelling in southern Lebanon, mourns her son’s body during his funeral in his hometown of Al Khiyam, Lebanon, October 14, 2023. Portal /Zohra Bensemra acquires licensing rights
The group worked near the village of Alma al-Shaab, near the Israeli border, where the Israeli military and Hezbollah engaged in firefights during border clashes.
Maher Nazeh, who was injured in the same incident along with his Portal colleague Thaer Al-Sudani, said they were filming rocket fire coming from the direction of Israel when one hit Abdallah as he sat on a low stone wall near the rest Group. Seconds later, another rocket hit the car used by the group and set it on fire.
While other news outlets, including the Associated Press and Al Jazeera, said the shells were Israeli, Portal was unable to determine whether the rockets were actually fired by Israel.
Agence France-Presse and Al Jazeera each said two of their journalists were injured in the incident.
Reporting by Ari Rabinovitch; Editing by Jon Boyle
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