LONDON: A US-made weapon was used by Israel in an airstrike that killed three journalists and injured three others in southern Lebanon, according to an investigation by The Guardian published on Monday.

The British newspaper revealed that munitions manufactured in the US targeted cameraman Ghassan Najjar and technician Mohammad Reda from Iran-backed Hezbollah outlet Al-Mayadeen, as well as cameraman Wissam Qassem from the Hezbollah-affiliated Al-Manar channel. Experts have called the attack a potential war crime.

The strike, which was carried out on the night of Oct. 25, hit a chalet in Hasbaya that was being used as a press station by several media workers, including journalists from Al Jazeera, Sky News Arabia, and TRT.

The Israeli military claimed it targeted a “Hezbollah military structure” in which “terrorists were located,” but later said that the incident was under review after learning journalists were among the casualties.

Nadim Houry, a human rights lawyer and executive director of the Arab Reform Initiative, told The Guardian: “All the indications show that this would have been a deliberate targeting of journalists: a war crime.

“This was clearly delineated as a place where journalists were staying.”

The investigation found no evidence to support Israel’s claims. Cars marked with “Press” signs were parked outside the chalet, and no military activity was detected in the area before the strike.

Witnesses said Israeli drones constantly monitored the site during the 23 days it was used as a press hub.

Ahmed Baydoun, an Amsterdam-based open-source intelligence researcher who was among the first to geolocate the strike, told Arab News that while satellite imagery and eyewitness video analysis pinpointed the chalet’s exact coordinates, providing both “accuracy” and a “tangible grasp of the gravity of the situation” in Hasbaya, definitive conclusions about the incident “would require shrapnel or remnants of the ammunition from the site.”

Geolocated #Israel’s airstrike on the residence of Lebanese journalists in Hasbaya, Lebanon that happened at 4:21 AM. Coordinates: 33.407794, 35.673511. #Lebanon https://t.co/f9Pw8OkjSZ pic.twitter.com/CONQAbvr3P

— A. Baydoun (@weatherwar) October 25, 2024

Remnants of munitions at the scene indicated that at least one weapon used was a 500lb MK-80 series bomb equipped with a Boeing-made JDAM (joint direct attack munition) kit, which converts unguided bombs into precision-guided weapons. The use of such a bomb suggests the site was deliberately selected as a target.

Under US law, the use of American-made weapons in attacks that constitute crimes against humanity requires the suspension of arms supplies to the country in question. Both Israel and the US have denied such accusations.

The journalists killed in the strike were not members of Hezbollah, although one coffin was draped in a Hezbollah flag during burial.

Experts noted that such practices often signify political affiliation but do not indicate military or operational involvement.

Janina Dill, co-director of the Oxford Institute for Ethics, Law, and Armed Conflict, said targeting journalists based on assumed political affiliations was “a dangerous trend already witnessed in Gaza” and “not compatible with international law.”

The Committee to Protect Journalists reports that since the conflict began on Oct. 7, 2023, Israel has killed six journalists in Lebanon and at least 129 in Gaza, marking the deadliest period for the profession in over four decades.

Irene Khan, the UN special rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression, accused Israeli authorities of “blatantly ignoring” their international legal obligations to safeguard journalists.

LONDON: Experts in the fields of healthcare and technology gathered for the ATOM Conference at London’s National Science Museum to explore the ways in which advances in artificial intelligence, quantum computing and biomedical sciences might revolutionize healthcare and extend human life.

They focused in particular on how best to leverage cutting-edge technologies to aid understanding of the “living universe” with the aim of improving health so that 100-year lifespans become the norm.

“Life matters. At the end of the day, whatever is happening on our planet, for us it’s about life,” Armen Sarkissian, the former president of Armenia, said during his opening remarks to delegates.

“We have spent a lot of money on our accelerators, our space stations, observation telescopes and many other things to understand the non-living universe but I realized that I don’t understand my body; we don’t understand our bodies.”

Sarkissian, who trained as a physicist and computer scientist before becoming a politician, was joined at the conference by an array of prominent expert speakers, including: Irene Tracey, the vice-chancellor of the University of Oxford; physicist Konstantin Novoselov, a Nobel prize-winner for his work on graphene; and Eric Xing, the president of Mohammed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence in Abu Dhabi.

King Charles, a friend of Sarkissian, was scheduled to attend the conference but his speech was instead delivered by a spokesperson. In it, the monarch emphasized the royal family’s commitment to medical innovation, noting in particular his own interest in cancer research and treatment.

“Many of you will know that earlier this year (the king) was diagnosed with cancer, and (he is) very keen that other people should gain some benefit from his diagnosis,” said Dr. Michael Dixon, head of the Royal Medical Household.

“Perhaps he is more aware than any of us of the extraordinary potential to unleash a healthier future for us all.”

The conference was organized by the ATOM Institute, which was founded by Sarkissian and his son Vardan, the Science Museum and Singapore University.

Speakers highlighted the fact that our limited understanding of the living universe contrasts sharply with our advanced knowledge of many aspects of the non-living one. The discussions also considered the effects of conflicts and climate change on global health.

“We are living a time where there are devastating wars worldwide; in Ukraine, in Gaza, in Lebanon, in Armenia and elsewhere in the world, hundreds of thousands of lives are being lost,” Sarkissian said.

“You can restore a bridge, you can restore a house, you can restore many things (but) how on earth do you restore lives that are destroyed? How on earth do you (restore) the millions of people who are wounded? How do you restore the mental problems and depression of tens of millions of people (resulting from) our activity?”

Other panel discussions considered pressing health-related challenges such antimicrobial resistance, which was recently highlighted at the UN General Assembly, and the resilience of healthcare systems during pandemics and natural disasters.

Specialist sessions focused on the growing global crisis in mental health; the transformative potential of AI in the health sector, including its implications for patient care, diagnostics and longevity; and ethical challenges relating to data security and privacy.

The ATOM Institute, the name of which stands for “Advanced Tomorrow,” seeks to foster collaborations on issues spanning geopolitics, medical innovation and technological breakthroughs with the aim of revolutionizing healthcare and extending the human lifespan.