Investigations say Israeli tank shells struck and killed Reuters journalist in Lebanon in October

An investigation by two news organizations and two human rights groups made public on Thursday says an Israeli tank shell killed Reuters videographer Issam Abdullah and wounded six other journalists in southern Lebanon in October.

Reports by Reuters, AFP, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch were based on forensic analysis, witness testimony, and interviews with government officials, lawyers, and medical professionals.

The findings are consistent with CNN's analysis of events at the time. The CNN team present in southern Lebanon at that time reported that the shell that attacked the journalists on October 13 had come from Israel.

CNN has asked the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) for comment on the allegations

Israeli government spokesman Ilon Levy said Thursday that he was "not familiar" with the new reports.

"The guiding principle in Israel's campaign against Hamas is that we uphold the principles of international law with respect to proportionality, necessity, distinction," he said. "We target Hamas, we do not target civilians."

AFP and HRW claimed in their reports that the attack was a "deliberate" targeted attack on journalists by Israel. "We do not target journalists," Hecht said in a statement to Reuters. He gave no further comment, the news agency reported.

Abdullah, 37, was killed and six other journalists were injured while filming the Israeli border from southern Lebanon. AFP photographer Christina Assi had her leg amputated and is in hospital, according to AFP.

After analysis of weapon fragments found at the scene, the report said the journalists were killed and wounded by 120 mm tank rounds of Israeli origin "which are not used by any other group in the area."

At least six other journalists from AFP, Reuters and Al Jazeera, all wearing body armor clearly labeled as "press", were killed in the blast, according to official statements and CNN's video analysis and geolocation of the incident. were injured.

Amnesty International's investigation "found no indication that there were any combatants or military objectives at the site of the attack."