12 lawmakers demand Biden open independent investigation into targeted Israeli attack on journalists

WASHINGTON (AA) – A dozen US lawmakers called on President Joe Biden Tuesday to authorize an independent investigation into a targeted Israeli attack on a group of journalists that killed one person and injured six others.

Among those targeted in the attack was American Dylan Collins, who was working for Agence France-Presse (AFP) in Lebanon near the border on Oct. 13, 2023, when an Israeli tank fired two rounds at the group, clearly identified as press at the time, before unleashing a barrage of .50 caliber heavy machine gun fire.

Issam Abdallah, a Reuters journalist, was killed, while Collins and five others were injured. Collins took shrapnel to his face, arms and back when the second tank round struck their position as he was attempting to apply a tourniquet to a colleague’s leg. The journalist, Christina Assi, would lose her leg as a result of the wounds she sustained that day.

The group of lawmakers, including Vermont Sens. Bernie Sanders and Peter Welch as well as Representative Becca Balint, previously wrote to the State Department in May asking for the agency to open an investigation into the attack, and in its reply, the agency noted that Israel was carrying out its own probe.

The department said in its June 27 response that it would “engage with Israeli officials until we get answers and see appropriate accountability for this incident.”

The lawmakers said that response “is unacceptable,” adding “the evidence clearly indicates that this was an unlawful direct attack on civilians in which a US citizen was injured and was lucky to survive.”

“It is painfully obvious that the United States cannot rely on the Netanyahu government to ensure accountability for these attacks. For many years, the Israeli authorities have failed to investigate or account for attacks on journalists,” they wrote in a letter to Biden, Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Attorney General Merrick Garland.

“Given this track record of inaction and impunity and the Netanyahu government’s inaction on this specific case, we call on the US government to immediately open an independent, impartial, comprehensive and transparent investigation led by the Department of Justice into the attack,” they added.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has claimed that an investigation was opened into the attack, but the lawmakers said no witnesses have been contacted and no updates have been provided.

“Given the historical record, there is no reason to believe the Netanyahu government will take any action. The US government must therefore act to ensure accountability for attacks on its citizens,” they added.

Israel has killed more than 130 journalists since October last year when it launched its war on Gaza, according to Reporters Without Borders.