A Lebanese photojournalist who was severely wounded during an Israeli strike on south Lebanon carried the Olympic torch in Paris on Sunday to honour journalists wounded and killed in the field.
The torch relay, which started in May, is part of celebrations in which about 10,000 people from various walks of life were chosen to carry the flame across France before the Games opening ceremony on July 26.
Christina Assi, of Agence France-Presse, was among six journalists struck by Israeli shelling on October 13 2023 while reporting on fire exchange along the border between Israeli troops and members of Lebanon’s militant Hezbollah group.
The attack killed Reuters videographer Issam Abdallah. Ms Assi was severely wounded and had part of her right leg amputated.
AFP videographer Dylan Collins, also wounded in the Israeli attack, pushed Ms Assi’s wheelchair as she carried the torch across the suburb of Vincennes on Sunday. Their colleagues from the press agency and hundreds of spectators cheered them on.
“I wish Issam was here to see this. And I wish what happened today was not because we were struck by two rockets,” Ms Assi told The Associated Press.
“I wish I could have honoured journalists this way while walking and in my best health.”
AFP, Reuters and Al Jazeera accused Israel of targeting their journalists who maintained they were positioned far from the clashes with vehicles clearly marked as press, while international human rights organisations, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, said the attack was a deliberate attack on civilians and should be investigated as a war crime.
“This is a chance to continue talking about justice, and the targeted attack on October 13 that needs to be investigated as a war crime,” said Mr Collins.
The Israeli military at the time said that the incident was under review, maintaining that it did not target journalists.
While holding the torch, Ms Assi said participating in the relay “is to send a message that journalists should be protected and be able to work without fearing that they could die at any moment”.
In late November 2023, Rabih al-Maamari and Farah Omar of the pan-Arab television network Al-Mayadeen were also killed in an apparent Israeli drone strike in southern Lebanon while covering the conflict.
Ms Assi does not believe there will be retribution for the events of that fateful October day but hopes her participation in the Olympic torch relay can bring attention to the importance of protecting journalists.
“For me, justice comes the day I can stand up again, hold my camera and get back to work,” she said.
The watchdog group Committee to Protect Journalists, in a preliminary count, said at least 108 journalists have been killed since the start of the Israel-Hamas war on October 7, the majority in the Gaza Strip.
The war was triggered by the Palestinian militant group Hamas’s sudden attack on southern Israel, killing some 1,200 people and abducting 250 others.
Israel retaliated with an offensive that has killed more than 38,000 people in Gaza, according to the territory’s Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between combatants and civilians.
Hezbollah militants have traded near-daily strikes with the Israeli military along their border over the past nine months.
