Twelve U.S. members of Congress are calling on the Biden administration to launch a formal investigation into an Israeli strike in Lebanon which killed a journalist and injured several others, including one carrying American citizenship.

On October 13th, 2023, a week after Hamas invaded southwestern Israel and six days after Hezbollah terrorists began attacking northern Israel with rockets, missiles, mortar fire, and cross-border infiltrations, IDF forces came under attack outside Kibbutz Hanita near the Lebanon border.

IDF tanks and artillery batteries returned fire, hitting a group of journalists covering the fighting on the Israel-Lebanon frontier.

Seven journalists were injured in the strike, including of them – Reuters reporter Issam Abdallah – who was fatally injured.

Of the six others, one, Dylan Collins, a writer for AFP, held American citizenship.

The IDF lamented the incident, saying the journalists had been accidentally hit and were not targeted by Israeli forces.

The Israeli military “deplores any injury to uninvolved parties, and does not deliberately shoot at civilians, including journalists,” an army spokesperson said. “The IDF considers the freedom of the press to be of utmost importance while clarifying that being in a war zone is dangerous.”

The IDF’s General Staff’s Fact Finding and Assessment Mechanism was assigned to examine the incident, the army said.

Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders (Independent) on Tuesday led a group of twelve lawmakers in calling on the federal Department of Justice to open a probe into the Israeli strike.

“It has now been more than one year since Mr. Collins was injured in a targeted Israeli strike while on assignment for AFP,” Sanders wrote in a letter addressed to President Joe Biden, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, and U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland.

“To date, Mr. Collins has received no explanation for the attack, and there have been no steps toward accountability. Given the inaction of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government, the United States must open an independent investigation into this incident.”

In addition to Sanders, eleven Democratic senators and House representatives signed onto the letter, including Sens. Peter Welch (D-Vt.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), and Reps. Becca Balint (D-Vt.), Cori Bush (D-Mo.), Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), Barbara Lee (D-Calif.), Jim McGovern (D-Mass.), Delia Ramirez (D-Ill.), Melanie Stansbury (D-N.M.), and Rashida Tlaib. (D-Mich.).

The lawmakers also accused the IDF of a “wider pattern of disregard” for civilians, “including journalists and humanitarian aid workers.”

“It is painfully obvious that the United States cannot rely on the Netanyahu government to ensure accountability for these attacks.”