Amal Khalil, a correspondent for Al-Akhbar newspaper, was killed Wednesday in an airstrike. Lebanon's prime minister accused Israel of war crimes.
8:59 AM
Lebanese journalist Amal Khalil was killed in an Israeli airstrike Wednesday in the southern village of al-Tiri, near the border with Israel. Khalil, 43, worked as a correspondent for Lebanon's daily newspaper Al-Akhbar.
Khalil was reporting in the area with freelance photographer Zeinab Faraj when an Israeli strike hit a vehicle in front of them. The two journalists took shelter in a nearby house, which was subsequently struck by another airstrike, according to the Lebanese Health Ministry. Faraj was seriously injured in the strike.
Officials in Lebanon said the journalists were deliberately targeted. They also accused the Israel Defense Forces of intentionally targeting a marked ambulance as it attempted to reach the journalists. The Lebanese Health Ministry stated that rescue workers managed to reach Faraj but had to abandon their efforts after coming under fire by Israeli forces.
The IDF denied that it was preventing rescue teams from reaching the area and said it did not target journalists.
Lebanon's Prime Minister Nawaf Salam condemned the incident on Thursday, accusing Israel of war crimes. In a post on social media, Salam stated that "Israel's targeting of media workers in the south while they carry out their professional duties is no longer isolated incidents, but has become an established approach that we condemn and reject."
Salam characterized the attacks on journalists as a "systematic practice" in southern Lebanon, saying such targeting violates international law and norms. He also cited the obstruction of rescue team access to the journalists as part of the broader pattern of conduct he condemned.
The airstrike also killed two other men in the initial strike on the vehicle, according to Lebanese officials.
Reporters Without Borders called on the international community to respond to the incident, according to reports of their statement.
Three consecutive attacks struck rescue workers responding to an airstrike in Mayfadoun, killing at least four paramedics and wounding several others.
At least 11 Palestinians were killed across Gaza and the occupied West Bank on Tuesday, according to Palestinian officials and local media reports.
Israeli and Lebanese officials said Wednesday that Israel is weighing a pause in fighting against Hezbollah, though formal approval remains pending.
A 10-day truce between Israel and Hezbollah began Friday, displacing over one million Lebanese residents and complicating Netanyahu's political position domestically.
A viral photograph of an Israeli soldier striking a Jesus statue with a sledgehammer in southern Lebanon has prompted a military investigation and condemnation from Israeli officials.
Two soldiers received 30 days military detention; six others faced separate action for failing to intervene.
