US continues to urge Israel to protect civilians, including journalists

By Iclal Turan

WASHINGTON (AA) - The US continues to urge Israel publicly and privately to protect innocent civilians, including members of the press, said Pentagon on Thursday.

"We continue to urge Israel to uphold the laws of armed conflict and humanitarian law and the protection of innocent civilians, which includes members of the press," Deputy Spokeswoman Sabrina Singh said in response to a question on the journalists killed in Israeli airstrikes.

"And so that's something that has come up that we've talked about publicly and has come up privately as well," she added.

Earlier in the day, Amnesty International said Israeli strikes on a group of seven journalists in south Lebanon on Oct. 13, which killed Reuters journalist Issam Abdallah and injured six others, were likely a direct attack on civilians that must be investigated as a war crime.

Reuters and Agence France-Presse also announced an investigation into the attack, saying that Israel was responsible for the deadly attack on journalists.

Asked if the Pentagon has an independent assessment of the attack, Singh said it does not have an independent assessment.

"We continue to urge Israel to conduct its operations in a targeted manner," she added.

Tension has flared along the border between Lebanon and Israel amid intermittent exchanges of fire between Israeli forces and Hezbollah since Israel launched an offensive in the Gaza Strip following a cross-border attack by the Palestinian group Hamas on Oct. 7.