How deadly is the Israel-Gaza war for journalists?
Al JazeeraNov 09, 2023
Report: Israeli Tank Likely Fired on Journalists in Lebanon
Image copyright: Amir Levy/Stringer/Getty Images News via Getty Images
The Facts
According to a report published Thursday, it is "likely" that an Israeli tank opened fire at journalists in Lebanon in early October, shortly after the onset of the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza, killing Reuters visual journalist Issam Abdallah.
The tank allegedly fired two 120mm rounds and a heavy machine gun for nearly two minutes toward the journalists' position, according to The Hague-based Organisation for Applied Scientific Research (TNO).
The Spin
Anti-Israel narrative
Israel has long made efforts to curtail the media's ability to cover its military actions, even going so far as to kill Palestinian and Lebanese journalists in targeted strikes. The evidence overwhelmingly suggests that Israeli forces have committed systematic violence against those trying to expose the country's brutal crimes. Israel's actions are a clear violation of international humanitarian law, as journalists are deemed civilians and not part of any conflict. More journalists will needlessly die if Israel is not held accountable for its policies.
Pro-Israel narrative
Though the press, biased against Israel at every turn, has always claimed that the country targets journalists, the reality is that Israel consistently goes out of its way to avoid harming civilians, even to the degree that its forces may incur additional casualties as a result of upholding that principle. The number of "journalists" killed in the war that is often cited by the media is Hamas propaganda and a gross overestimate, with the real number likely being less than 20. Either way, tragic accidents shouldn't be politicized or used to defame Israel's moral standing in this war it didn't want.
Nerd narrative
There's a 50% chance that there will be at least 44K Palestinian civilian deaths in the Israel-Gaza conflict before July 2024, according to the Metaculus prediction community.
