The bombing that killed a Reuters journalist and injured six others, including two from Agence France-Presse (AFP), on October 13 in southern Lebanon occurred in “an active combat zone “, the Israeli army told AFP on Friday.
An AFP investigation into this bombing, published Thursday, points to an Israeli tank shell. An investigation by the Reuters agency, also published on Thursday, also concluded that there was Israeli tank fire. Asked about these findings, an Israeli army spokesperson stressed that the location where the journalists were located was “an active combat zone, where exchanges of fire are occurring.” “Being in this region is dangerous.” “The incident is being examined,” this spokesperson told AFP, adding that the army had asked the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) the day before, on October 12, , “to verify that no civilian was in the combat zone”.
The reporters had come to cover cross-border clashes between the Israeli army and armed groups in southern Lebanon, where the international community is concerned about the risk of the conflict between Israel and Hamas expanding since the start of the war in the Gaza Strip on October 7.