The Paris-based Reporters Without Borders (RSF) and the New York-based Committee To Protect Journalists (CPJ) are both calling for an independent investigation of the Oct. 25, 3 a.m. airstrike, against 18 journalists who were sleeping in residential bungalows near the town of Hasbaya, in southern Lebanon. According to a statement from RSF three reporters were killed, and three more were injured, in an “apparently targeted strike against the press.” A statement from CPJ reads: “Deliberately targeting journalists is a war crime under international law. This attack must be independently investigated and the perpetrators must be held to account.” Many press organizations have said that the world was failing to uphold international humanitarian law that protects journalists as civilians. According to CPJ the death toll of journalists is especially high among Palestinian reporters, with more that 130 killed in Gaza and Lebanon.
Lebanon’s Prime Minister Najib Mikati called the attack a “war crime,” and said, “This deliberate aggression certainly aims to intimidate the media to cover up the crimes and destruction being committed.” Lebanon’s Information Minister Ziad Makary said, “This is an assassination, after monitoring and tracking, with prior planning and design, as there were 18 journalists in the place representing seven media institutions.” One of the survivors of the attack revealed, “There were no weapons at the guesthouse, no signs of any military presence and no one with any military ties,” further adding, “Our weapons were cameras, our weapons were pictures, our weapons were articles.”
