Remembering Issam Abdallah, Reuters Journalist Killed Covering Israeli Missile Strikes in Lebanon

On Friday, an Israeli shell reportedly landed among a group of international journalists covering clashes on Lebanon’s border with Israel, killing Reuters videographer Issam Abdallah and injuring six others. We speak to Abdallah’s close friend Lama Al-Arian, an international producer for Vice News in Beirut, who says colleagues believe that Abdallah’s death was the result of a “targeted attack.” Abdallah, whose hometown of Khiam had been occupied by Israel during the 15-year occupation of southern Lebanon, became a journalist “to tell stories from this region that he cared about so much, that he thinks is very misunderstood by Western media.” Remembers Al-Arian, “He always wanted to show the humanity of people suffering.”