AFP journalist to be honored at International Press Freedom Awards

AFP journalist Christina Assi, who lost a leg in an Israeli strike while reporting from the Lebanese border, will be honored at the International Press Freedom Awards, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Wednesday.

In October 2023, Reuters journalist Issam Abdallah was killed and six others were wounded, including AFP journalists Assi and Dylan Collins, while covering the conflict near the Israeli border.

An independent AFP investigation concluded that two Israeli 120mm tank shells were fired from the Jordeikh area inside Israel.

"Despite being the most well-documented attack on journalists by Israel on record, nearly three years on, no one has been held accountable," the CPJ said in a statement announcing the honorees ahead of the November 19 event in New York.

"Since the attack, Assi has campaigned for justice for Abdallah's killing, advocated for journalist safety, and supported a rehabilitation program for people with similar life-altering injuries."

Two strikes hit the group of journalists in quick succession as they were working near the border village of Alma al-Shaab in an area where the Israeli army and armed Lebanese and Palestinian groups engaged in near-daily clashes.

AFP's findings were corroborated by other international probes, including investigations conducted by Reuters, the Committee to Protect Journalists, Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International and Reporters Without Borders.

Other journalists who will be honored alongside Assi include Hungary's Szabolcs Panyi, who investigated former prime minister Viktor Orban, and Colombia's Estefany Rodriguez, who was detained by US immigration officers while working in March.

Myanmar's Sai Zaw Thaike, a photojournalist with the independent Myanmar Now outlet, who was arrested in 2023, while covering the aftermath of Cyclone Mocha, will also be decorated.

Carlos Dada, the Salvadoran journalist who co-founded El Faro, Central America's first digital newspaper, will receive the 2026 Gwen Ifill Press Freedom Award.

"This year's awardees exemplify the determination and courage of journalists worldwide," said CPJ Chief Executive Jodie Ginsberg.

"They have endured targeting, imprisonment, exile, and surveillance for simply reporting the news. It is an honor to recognize their commitment to documenting the truth."