Lebanon Blames Israel for Targeting Journalist in Fatal Airstrike

Lebanon's prime minister has accused Israel of war crimes after Israeli air strikes killed one journalist and wounded another in southern Lebanon on Wednesday.

The strike killed Amal Khalil, who worked for a Lebanese newspaper, and injured freelance photographer Zeinab Faraj. Officials in Lebanon say they were deliberately targeted as they sought shelter in a home after an initial air strike hit the vehicle in front of them, killing two men.

The officials also accused the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) of intentionally targeting a marked ambulance as it tried to reach the journalists in the village of Tayri.

The IDF denied that it was preventing rescue teams from reaching the area and said it did not target journalists.

Journalists Khalil, 43, who worked for Lebanese newspaper Al-Akhbar, and Faraj were travelling together. The two men who died have not been named by officials.

Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam said: Targeting journalists, obstructing access to them by relief teams, and even targeting their locations again after these teams arrive constitutes described war crimes.

He accused Israel of repeatedly targeting media workers in southern Lebanon in what he described as an established approach.

Salam offered condolences to Khalil's family and said that Lebanon would pursue the crimes before the competent international forums.

In a statement, the IDF said it does not target journalists and acts to mitigate harm to them while maintaining the safety and security of its troops.

One of the vehicles had approached Israeli troops in a manner that was an immediate threat after crossing a forward defense line, violating a ceasefire, the statement said. The IDF said the Israeli Air Force then struck one of the vehicles.

The Lebanese health ministry said the IDF pursued Khalil and Faraj, who had taken refuge from the first raid in a nearby house, targeting the house where they had sought shelter.

When a Lebanese Red Cross ambulance arrived to treat the wounded, Israeli forces directed a stun grenade and gunfire toward it, preventing it from reaching them, the ministry said in a statement.

This constitutes a blatant double violation: obstructing the rescue efforts of a citizen known for her civic media activism, and targeting an ambulance clearly marked with the Red Cross emblem, the health ministry said.

Clayton Weimer, the executive director of Reporters Without Borders, said the IDF had received messages from the organisation, as well as journalists, asking that it allow ambulances to get to Khalil.

Faraj was eventually evacuated along with two of the dead, the statement added. Khalil's body was later recovered by emergency teams, according to Lebanon's civil defence agency.

On Thursday morning, journalists gathered at Martyrs Square in Beirut to remember her in silence.

The front page of Al Akhbar featured a picture of Khalil, microphone in hand, smiling. The newspaper said in an article on her death that Khalil remained steadfast in her humanitarian and professional duty.

The Guardian's William Christou described her in a post on X as a professional, kind and dedicated journalist, and always a pleasure to run into in the field.

The U.S.-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) said it was outraged by Khalil's death. The repeated strikes on the same location, the targeting of an area where journalists were sheltering, and the obstruction of medical and humanitarian access constitute a grave breach of international humanitarian law, said CPJ Regional Director Sara Qudah.

In 2024, Khalil said she had received an "Israeli death threat" urging her to leave southern Lebanon, raising serious concerns of deliberate targeting.

Khalil's death marks a troubling trend; earlier in the month, two journalists were killed in separate Israeli strikes, and last month, three Lebanese journalists lost their lives in a targeted Israeli strike.

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun condemned the killings as a brazen crime breaking the most basic rules of international law by targeting reporters.

At least 2,475 people have been killed in Israeli attacks in Lebanon since the latest war began, with the number also including a significant number of women and children.

The ongoing conflict has reignited accusations of violations from both Hezbollah and Israel, with claims of a ceasefire breach amid continued hostilities.