An Israeli airstrike in Lebanon that killed three journalists and wounded four others was likely a deliberate attack on civilians and a war crime carried out using a US-supplied weapon, Human Rights Watch said in a report on Monday.

The strike took place on October 25, 2024, and targeted the Hasbaya Club resort in Hasbaya, southern Lebanon, where more than a dozen journalists were staying. Israel bombed the building at around 3 a.m. when most of the journalists were asleep.

Human Rights Watch said it found no evidence of military activity in the area and reviewed information indicating that the Israeli military knew or should have known that journalists were staying in the building.

The raid resulted in the death of journalist and photographer Ghassan Najjar, and satellite broadcast engineer Mohammed Reda, who both worked for Al-Mayadeen TV. Wissam Qassem, a photographer for Hezbollah's Al-Manar TV, was also killed.

Human Rights Watch said it found that the attack was carried out using a bomb equipped with a US-supplied Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM) guidance kit manufactured by Woodard Inc. The JDAM kits are developed and sold by Boeing.

Human Rights Watch called on the United States to end arms transfers to Israel.

“Israel’s use of US weapons to unlawfully attack and kill journalists far from any military target is a terrible stain on the United States as well as Israel,” said Richard Weir, senior researcher at Human Rights Watch, in a press release. “Past deadly Israeli military attacks on journalists without consequences offer little hope for accountability for this or future abuses against the media.”

It is noteworthy that according to the Palestinian Journalists Syndicate, Israel has killed an unprecedented number of journalists since October 2023, killing 174 in Gaza. The United States has continued to provide military aid to Israel despite clear evidence of war crimes and Israel’s obstruction of humanitarian aid deliveries in Gaza.