Members of Congress, CPJ, Amnesty International USA to hold press conference about Israel’s systematic targeting of journalists

American journalist Dylan Collins joins call for justice for October 13, 2023, Israeli attack that wounded him and killed Reuters journalist Issam Abdallah in Lebanon

Washington, December 4, 2025—The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) and Amnesty International USA join U.S. Senators Peter Welch (D-VT), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), and U.S. Rep. Becca Balint (D-VT-At Large) to demand accountability for Israel’s systematic targeting of the press since October 7, 2023.

For the first time, Senator Welch will share findings from his office’s engagement with the governments of Israel and the United States on the status of its probe into the attack on his constituent, U.S. citizen and Agence France-Presse (AFP) video journalist Dylan Collins, who will also join the press conference. 

Collins was wounded in the October 13, 2023, double-tap Israeli attack in southern Lebanon on a group of seven journalists clearly identifiable as members of the press. Reuters video journalist Issam Abdallah was killed in the first strike and AFP photojournalist Christina Assi gravely wounded, resulting in the amputation of her right leg. 

This attack was the first instance CPJ documented of Israeli forces deliberately targeting journalists following October 7, 2023. To date, CPJ has determined that a total of 59 journalists and media workers were directly targeted and killed by Israeli forces, cases that CPJ classifies as murders.

Independent investigations by AFP, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, Reuters, and the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon all concluded that Israel conducted an apparently deliberate attack on a group of clearly identifiable members of the media. A deliberate attack on civilians constitutes a war crime under international law. 

According to CPJ, at least 246 journalists and media workers have been killed by Israel since October 7, 2023, making it the deadliest period for journalists on record. The majority of those killed were Palestinians reporting from the occupied Gaza Strip.

Collins reported the targeted attack to the U.S. embassy in Beirut while hospitalized from injuries sustained in the strike, and later presented video evidence of the double-tap strike to FBI and DHS investigators and the State Department in May 2024. On October 22, 2024, 12 members of Congress demanded that the Biden Administration open an investigation on the October 13 targeted attack that injured Collins. To date, the U.S. has failed to undertake an independent and transparent investigation resulting in accountability for this strike.  

CPJ’s May 2023 report, “Deadly Pattern,” found that over 22 years, at least 20 journalists were killed by members of the Israel military. No one has ever been charged or held responsible for these deaths.

WHO: 

• Sen. Peter Welch (D-VT)
• Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD)
• Rep. Becca Balint (D-VT-At Large)
• Dylan Collins, AFP video journalist and survivor of October 13, 2023, targeted Israeli attack 
• Amelia Evans, advocacy director at the Committee to Protect Journalists 
• Elizabeth Rghebi, advocacy director for the Middle East and North Africa at Amnesty International USA

WHEN: 9 a.m. ET on December 11, 2025

WHERE: U.S. Capitol Grounds, Senate Swamp

RSVP: Please register here to attend.

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About the Committee to Protect Journalists

The Committee to Protect Journalists is an independent, nonprofit organization that promotes press freedom worldwide. We defend the right of journalists to report the news safely and without fear of reprisal.

About Amnesty International

Amnesty International is a Nobel Peace Prize-winning global movement of more than 10 million people who campaign for a world where human rights are enjoyed by all. The organization investigates and exposes abuses, educates and mobilizes the public, and works to protect people wherever justice, freedom, truth, and dignity are denied.

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