Beirut

A Reuters news videographer was killed when an Israeli shell landed on a group of journalists working in southern Lebanon. Six others were wounded in the incident, Associated Press reported.

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The six injured journalists were from Reuters, AFP and Al Jazeera. 

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said that the death of Reuters journalist on frontline "demonstrates the enormous risk of spillover of this conflict, namely in relation to Lebanon".

"We are deeply saddened to learn that our videographer, Issam Abdallah, has been killed," the Reuters statement said.

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"We are urgently seeking more information, working with authorities in the region, and supporting Issam’s family and colleagues," Reuters said.

What happened?

According to one of the two wounded AFP correspondents, a group of journalists from different media outlets were stationed near the village of Alma al-Shaab, close to the border with Israel, when they were caught in cross-border shelling.

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Earlier, a Lebanese security source had told AFP that initial Israeli shelling followed an infiltration attempt by a Palestinian faction from the Lebanese side of the border. 

AFP photographer Christina Assi and AFP video journalist Dylan Collins were working in the area. Both were taken to a hospital in Tyre city of Lebanon for treatment.

Two other Reuters reporters, "Thaer Al-Sudani and Maher Nazeh also sustained injuries and are seeking medical care," Reuters said, adding it was "urgently seeking more information".

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Al Jazeera said two of their reporters were among the wounded, blaming "Israeli bombing on their vehicle".

They named them as Carmen Joukhadar and Elie Brakhya.

"We are deeply concerned that a group of journalists who were clearly identified have been killed and injured while doing their job," said AFP's global news director Phil Chetwynd.

"We send our deepest condolences to our friends at Reuters for the loss of Issam and we are all pulling for our injured colleagues in hospital."

World leaders react, Israel says will probe the incident

White House spokesperson Olivia Dalton told reporters on Friday (October 13) that the US President Joe Biden's prayers are with families of a Reuters news videographer who was killed while working in southern Lebanon.

"We know that the work that you all do is incredibly dangerous and today is reminder of that," Dalton said. 

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Actor George Clooney also reacted to the killing of Reuters journalist Issam Abdallah and described the situation in the region as "heartbreaking".

Meanwhile, Israel's UN Ambassador, Gilad Erdan, said that the country will investigate what happened in southern Lebanon

"We always try to mitigate and avoid civilian casualties. Obviously, we would never want to hit or kill or shoot any journalist that is doing its job," he said. "But you know, we're in a state of war, things might happen. We regret them. We feel sorry. And we will investigate it. Right now, it's too early to call what happened there."

(With inputs from agencies)

Disclaimer: WION takes utmost care to accurately and responsibly report ongoing developments on the Israel-Palestine conflict after the Hamas attacks. However, we cannot independently verify the authenticity of all statements, photos and videos.

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