Human Rights Watch (HRW) reported Monday that an Israeli airstrike in Lebanon last month, which killed three journalists and injured four others, was likely a deliberate attack on civilians and an apparent war crime. The attack used a bomb equipped with a “United States-produced Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM) guidance kit.” The group called on the US to suspend weapon transfers to Israel for its attacks on civilians.

The attack took place on October 24 of this year, in Hasbaya, Lebanon, where more than a dozen journalists had been staying for several weeks. HRW found no evidence of military presence or activity in Hasbaya at the time of the attack. It also determined that Israeli military knew or should have known that journalists were in the targeted building.

The JDAM guidance kit used in the attack is assembled and sold by the Boeing Company. HRW pointed to several international responsibilities that companies must abide by to prevent or mitigate violations of international humanitarian law, including the UN’s Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights and the OECD Guidelines on Multinational Enterprises on Responsible Business Conduct.

Given its findings and “Israel’s record of widespread laws of war violations,” HRW called on the US and weapons manufacturers to suspend weapons transfers due to Israel’s “repeated, unlawful attacks on civilians,” claiming that US officials may be complicit in war crimes. Previous reports indicate US weapons have been used in other incidents where Israel killed civilians and potentially violated international law, including an attack on Lebanese aid workers in March and several strikes made throughout the Gaza Strip last year.

Despite international protections for journalists, more than 130 journalists have been killed since October 2023. It is the deadliest period since the Committee to Protect Journalists began collecting data in 1992, with the overwhelming majority being killed by Israeli forces. In addition to unprecedented levels of violence perpetrated against journalists, Israel has also ordered shutdowns of Al Jazeera offices in the West Bank and sanctioned the Israeli newspaper Haaretz for its criticism of the state.