During a press conference held in front of the Capitol building in Washington, with the participation of the American journalist at “France-Presse” Dylan Collins, who was injured by shrapnel during the incident, Senator Peter Welch stated: “We expect the Israeli government to conduct an investigation that adheres to international standards, and hold accountable those who committed this act.” He added that his attempts over two years to obtain answers from the administrations of former President Joe Biden and current President Donald Trump, in addition to the Israeli government, “have not yielded any progress.”
The joint investigation conducted by “France-Presse” in cooperation with the British expert group “Airwars” showed that a 120 mm tank shell, a type used exclusively by Israeli forces in the region, was the one that hit the location of the journalists. Independent investigations conducted by various international agencies and organizations, including “Reuters,” “Human Rights Watch,” “Amnesty International,” the Committee to Protect Journalists, and “Reporters Without Borders,” reached the same conclusions.
Despite “France-Presse” demanding a “full and transparent” investigation, the Israeli army responded last October that “the incident is still under review.” However, Senator Welch revealed that his office was later informed that the investigation had been closed without listening to the testimonies of the injured journalists or witnesses.
During the conference, Collins called on the US government to officially recognize the attack that occurred on Lebanese territory, in which one of its citizens was a victim, stressing the need to pressure Israel to achieve accountability. He said: “The US government must push its closest ally in the Middle East to hold the perpetrators accountable.”
For her part, Democratic Representative Becca Balint affirmed that elected officials “will not condone” this issue, and affirmed the continued pressure to achieve justice and protect freedom of the press.
