BEIRUT (Reuters) – Reuters video journalist Issam Abdallah, 37, who was killed on Friday while filming an Israeli missile attack on the Israel-Lebanon border, was responsible for some of the biggest news stories of the past decade. He brought courage, compassion, and insight to his work covering.
Whether he’s reporting on the wars with Islamic State in Syria and Iraq, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, or gun battles in the streets of his native Lebanon, Abdallah is skilled at telling the stories of people living through catastrophe. Abdallah’s colleagues recalled after his death that Friday.
“Over the years covering conflicts and wars across the region for Reuters, I have learned that photographs are not just about front lines and smoke, but the untold human stories that resonate within all of us. ” he wrote to the editors last year. A tough mission in Ukraine.
Abdallah was nominated for the 2020 Reuters Video Journalist of the Year award for his outstanding coverage of the Beirut port explosion, providing the world with the first and most powerful footage of the disaster. He was part of a large team that won awards for coverage in Ukraine in 2022.
“He had a passion for telling the stories he saw unfold before his eyes, and that passion was the same whether he was visiting the Pope or covering earthquakes,” said Eleanor Biles, Reuters Europe video editor. Told.
Abdallah, who reported in some of the world’s most dangerous places, had a reputation among his colleagues for being careful and prudent even in difficult environments. He worked hard to ensure the safety of himself and his colleagues.
During a grueling weeks-long mission in 2019, Abdallah was one of the first journalists to break the news of the surrender of hundreds of Islamic State fighters holed up in their last stronghold in eastern Syria.
“He reported with courage and responsibility,” said Ellen Francis, a former Washington Post reporter who worked for Reuters and was assigned to the area.
As his native Lebanon descended into economic collapse and endless political crisis, Mr. Abdallah was often the one to lighten the mood in the Reuters Beirut bureau, forming close friendships with his colleagues and their families.
Reporters in the news agency’s Beirut bureau said he liked to gather his colleagues together, ordering huge breakfast spreads for the entire office and frequently pulling out his camera for group photos.
passion and professionalism
Abdallah was buried on Saturday next to his father, who died last year, in his hometown of Qiyam in southern Lebanon. He is survived by his mother, two brothers, and one sister.
The Lebanese army said Israel fired the missile that killed Abdallah, and another Reuters reporter at the scene said Abdallah was killed by a projectile fired from an Israeli direction. The Israeli military announced that it would investigate. Reuters called for a “thorough, swift and transparent” investigation and said it was “crucial that journalists can report freely and safely.”
Abdallah’s body was draped in the Lebanese flag and carried in a procession attended by hundreds of mourners. Journalists placed cameras on his grave and prayers were said in his memory.
Abdallah first started providing footage to Reuters about 16 years ago, working as a freelancer while completing his university studies. “His passion was contagious, his unquestionable professionalism and his humanity were a shining light in the darkest places,” said Lutfi, ITN News’ foreign affairs news editor who hired Abdallah as a senior producer at Reuters. – Abu Aoun said.
That passion was obvious to anyone who met him. Abdallah traveled around Beirut on his motorbike, carrying video and still cameras everywhere he went.
He was as comfortable filming stories about the bizarre aspects of everyday life as he was covering the horrors of modern war. His feature stories, often about Lebanese summer music festivals and animals, hinted at the playful humor that endeared him to his colleagues.
The first footage he provided was of clashes in Beirut in 2007, and the following year he covered large-scale fighting between Lebanese in the capital.
For Rabib Nasir, Reuters Middle East and North Africa chief visual producer, Abdallah was at his best, covering the chaotic moments after the 2020 Beirut port explosion. The explosion destroyed much of the city and also damaged the offices of the Reuters news agency.
Within minutes of the disorienting explosion, Abdallah arrived at the scene of the disaster on his motorbike along a dusty road, stopping only to interview the injured man along the way, providing live video footage. Was.
Upon arriving at the port, he gave the world its first view of the city’s destroyed grain silos, providing “the background that became the worldview of that story,” Nasir said.
Later, his work documenting the story of Liliane Chiaite, a Lebanese woman who was paralyzed by the explosion and unable to speak, had a huge impact, prompting her family to take her to Turkey for treatment. were able to raise enough funds.
His family asked him not to bring a large camera into the hospital room in order to tell this story, so he entered the room with just his cell phone, introduced himself, asked permission to film, and asked if she could see him with her eyes. I waited until he signaled, “Yes.”
“Mr. Issam’s unwavering dedication to his work and belief in the power of image will remain etched in our memories,” said Samia Nakoor, Reuters global foreign policy editor.
“Through his own live camera footage, the world witnessed the deadly shell that tragically killed him.”
(Writing: Angus McDowall; Editing: Daniel Wallis)
Copyright 2023 Thomson Reuters.