Israel accused of "war crimes" in targeted killing of three Lebanese journalists
Hasbaya, Lebanon - Three journalists were killed in an Israeli air strike overnight, Lebanese state media NNA said Friday, with another broadcaster adding that the raids targeted a residence of press workers in southeastern Lebanon.
Israeli military planes struck at 3:30 AM near the Syrian border, leaving three dead, NNA said.
Lebanese television channel Al Mayadeen said its cameraman Ghassan Najjar, as well as broadcast engineer Mohammad Reda, were killed in the Israeli air strike targeting a "journalists' residence in Hasbaya, South Lebanon."
Al Mayadeen said Najjar "was a father who risked his life for a just cause, dedicated to revealing the truth, and was killed in cold blood."
Al Mayadeen said Wednesday that a previous Israeli strike had hit an office it had vacated in Beirut.
Another TV outlet, Al-Manar, which is run by Hezbollah, said its photographer Wissam Qassem was also killed in the Israeli strike in Hasbaya.
Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati condemned Israel's latest attack. "The new Israeli aggression targeting journalists" was among the "war crimes committed by the Israeli enemy," he said in a statement, adding the attack was "deliberate" and "aims to terrorize the media to cover up crimes and destruction."
After a year of genocide in Gaza, Israel expanded its violent assault on Lebanon a month ago.
It launched a massive bombing campaign around Lebanon and sent in ground troops on September 30, killing at least at least 1,580 people since September 23, according to Lebanese health ministry figures – though the real number is assumed to be higher.
Israel accused of targeting media and rescue workers
Separately, in Beirut's southern Choueifat Al-Amrousieh area, Israeli warplanes "destroyed two buildings and ignited a large fire, and black smoke covered the area," according to NNA.
"The raid that targeted the Saint Therese area also caused the collapse of two buildings near the Constitutional Council."
Israel had earlier issued evacuation warnings following intense assaults the night before.
"You are located near facilities and sites belonging to Hezbollah, which the Israeli Defense Forces will be targeting in the near future," said the Israeli army's Arabic-language spokesperson Avichay Adraee in a post on X that included maps of the locations.
AFPTV footage showed plumes of smoke rising from Beirut's south following the strikes, and AFP correspondents in the capital heard loud bangs.
On Wednesday evening, Israeli strikes leveled six buildings in south Beirut, state media and AFP footage showed.
Throughout its brutal military campaign, Israel has been accused of targeting press workers. The Committee to Protect Journalists has documented at least 128 journalists and media workers killed in Gaza, the West Bank, Israel, and Lebanon since October 2023.
On top of that, Lebanon's health minister said on Friday that more than 160 rescuers and health workers had been killed in Israeli strikes over the last year.
"The total number of rescuers and health sector workers killed has so far has reached 163, with 272 others wounded," Firass Abiad told reporters during a press conference detailing "damage caused by Israeli attacks on the health sector in Lebanon."
Cover photo: AFP