An Israeli strike on Friday killed a videographer with Reuters, Issam Abdallah, and wounded several others covering clashes on the border in southern Lebanon, CNN reported on Friday.
Al-Jazeera cameraman, Elie Brakhya, and reporter, Carmen Joukhadar, as well as two Reuters journalists, Thaer Al-Sudani and Maher Nazeh, were among those wounded.
A journalist who reported from Alma ash-Shaab,, Ali Hashem in a post on his X handle said, “The tank shell hit them directly. It was horrible. The situation over there was.., I can’t explain, I can’t describe it.”
Confirming the incident, Reuters in a statement said, “We are deeply saddened to tell you that our videographer, Issam Abdallah, has been killed.”
This is as the United States on Friday commenced the evacuation of its citizens from Israel.
The US National Security Council coordinator for strategic communications, John Kirby, told reporters that the first charter flight organised to get its citizens out of Israel departed for Europe on Friday.
He added that additional flights would be “departing in the coming days.”
On his part, the US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, at a news conference in Doha, Qatar urged Israeli forces not to harm civilians.
Hamas last Saturday launched a surprise attack on Israel, killing more than 1,200 people and kidnapped 150 Israelis. The group also claimed it had killed 13 out of the 150 hostages.
Israel has also declared war on the militant group, with retaliatory airstrikes on Gaza killing over 1,354 people while over 6,049 people were injured.
According to Palestinian authorities, since the incident began on Saturday, at least 1,799 people have been killed and 6,388 others wounded by Israeli air raids in Gaza.
Meanwhile, Foreign Ministry spokesman, Walid Abu Haya, has said Israel will not stop fighting until the Palestinian Hamas movement no longer has military potential.
He also said that there was no difference between Hamas and the Islamic State terrorist group (banned in Russia) as their goal was to “exterminate the Jewish people.”
Speaking in an interview with Sputnik on Friday, Haya said, “We will see the end of this war once Hamas loses its military potential.
In recent years, Hamas has refused to accept the Middle East Qaurtet’s terms on settlement, including recognition of agreements between the Palestinians and Israel, preventing the organisation from becoming a political party.”
