Reuters journalist killed and six others injured by missiles fired from Israel's direction

Missiles fired from Israel's direction killed a Reuters video journalist and injured six other journalists, confirmed reporters from Reuters who were present at the site on Friday.

The journalists, who included representatives from Al Jazeera and Agence France-Presse, were working near Alma al-Shaab, near the Israeli border, where the Israeli military and the Lebanese militia Hezbollah had been exchanging fire in border confrontations. Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati and a Hezbollah MP both blamed Israel for the attack.

In a press conference on Friday, Israel's U.N. envoy, Gilad Erdan, said, "Obviously, we would never want to hit, kill, or shoot any journalist doing their job. But, you know, we're at war, and anything may happen." He went on to say that the country would investigate it. The Israel Defence Forces are yet to issue a statement addressing this matter. 

"We are deeply saddened to learn that our videographer, Issam Abdallah, has been killed… We are urgently seeking more information, working with authorities in the region, and supporting Issam's family and colleagues,” said Reuters in a statement. According to Reuters, Issam Abdallah was slain while delivering a live video signal to broadcasters, when a loud explosion shook the camera, filled the air with smoke and chaos ensued.

Thaer Al-Sudani and Maher Nazeh, two other journalists from Reuters were injured in the incident and were released from a hospital after getting medical treatment. Maher Nazeh stated that Abdallah was seated on a low stone wall close to the rest of the group when one of the missiles struck him. Reuters and the other two news agencies were filming missile fire coming from the direction of Israel. Seconds later, another missile struck the group's car, setting it on fire. Although the Associated Press and Al Jazeera reported that the shells were Israeli, Reuters was unable to confirm if Israel had fired the missiles.

In addition, journalists from other media houses were also injured in the attack. Agence France-Presse reported that two of its journalists were injured. Al Jazeera stated that two of its journalists were hurt in the incident, and they could be easily identified as members of the press. It attributed the incident to Israel and demanded that those responsible for 'this criminal act' face consequences. "The broadcast vehicle was bombed and completely burned despite the presence of our team close to/side by side with the rest of the international media crews in an agreed-upon location,” said Al Jazeera in a statement.

Since the conflict broke out between Israel and Hamas, a Palestinian movement with strong ties to Hezbollah, broke out further south, the community of Alma Al-Shaab has seen numerous exchanges of gunfire in the recent past. A week ago, Hamas fighters broke out of the Gaza Strip and launched an attack on Israeli soldiers and civilians, leading to a massive bombardment of Gaza.

The UN Interim Force in Lebanon, a peacekeeping force that guards Lebanon's border with Israel, expressed its sorrow over the news and demanded an end to the gunfire. "It must be stopped—there is a clear risk that this escalation will spiral out of control,” said the UN Interim Force in a statement.