Israeli attack in southern Lebanon kills three journalists

The Israeli military said it was analyzing the reports. The deaths come amid continued heavy fighting in southern Lebanon between Israel and Hezbollah, with Israel announcing that 10 soldiers had been killed in Lebanon over the past day, as well as three soldiers in Gaza.

The deaths of journalists who worked for Hezbollah-linked media increased the number of media workers killed in the region since the Hamas militant group’s attacks on Israel on October 7, 2023. It was the deadliest day for journalists in Lebanon in the latest round of fighting.

The Al-Mayadeen news network, which employed the two journalists killed on Friday, previously reported that its evacuated office in Beirut was hit in Wednesday’s airstrike.

On Friday morning, cameraman Ghassan Najjar and broadcast engineer Muhammad Reda, both of whom worked for Al-Mayadeen, were killed in the strike. According to Al-Mayadeen, Wissam Qasim, a cameraman at the Hezbollah-linked Al-Manar facility, was also killed.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who visited the region to push for ceasefire talks, told reporters on Thursday that “far too many (journalists) have lost their lives in Gaza.”

“We strongly support the work of journalists in Gaza and around the world, including in conflict areas,” Blinken said in Doha, Qatar.

A US diplomat arrived in the Middle East this week to press for an end to the fighting in Gaza and Lebanon. He was scheduled to meet with Lebanese Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib and leading diplomats from other Arab countries this Friday in London.

While in Israel on Tuesday, Blinken pressed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to authorize more aid for the northern Gaza Strip, warning that refusing to do so would risk U.S. military support for Israel. He later announced a plan to send $135 million in aid to Palestinians in Gaza, the West Bank and throughout the region.

UN human rights chief Volker Türk said on Friday that the situation in northern Gaza is “incredibly worsening by the day” amid reports of continued bombing and the separation and detention of families.

He said such a policy could empty northern Gaza of all Palestinians. “We are dealing with what could be considered an atrocity, potentially extending to crimes against humanity.”

Gaza’s Ministry of Health said in a statement Friday that Israeli forces stormed Kamal Adwan Hospital after shelling the previous evening and that several displaced men were stripped and detained. Kamal Adwan was the only hospital still operating in northern Gaza, and this week staff said it was suffering from extreme shortages.

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, secretary-general of the World Health Organization, wrote in the

Gaza’s health ministry also said Friday that 38 people were killed overnight and dozens of others were injured in the southern Gaza Strip, near Khan Younis.

Muhammad Farhat, a reporter for local TV station Aljadeed, said in an interview that he was staying at another residence in the same area where the journalists were murdered on Friday. There were a total of eight bungalows within the complex, all of which were occupied by local and international media journalists.

Farhat said he woke up to the sound of Israeli jets, and seconds later two missiles hit the bungalow next to his.

Farhat said the force of the impact caused the roof of his bungalow to collapse. When he went outside, he saw that the neighboring residence had “disappeared” due to the force of the impact.

Photos from the scene show a building razed to the ground and a heavily damaged truck with the words “PRESS” clearly written on it.

Despite the attack, journalists at the scene continued to report. Ali Shoeib, an Al Manar correspondent who worked with Qasim, told his viewers: “Now I am filming myself because the cameraman who followed me for days, nights and months is now a martyr.”

In a statement, Al-Mayadeen said it held Israel fully responsible for the deaths, calling the attack “an aggression against all news crews.” The Public Health Emergency Management Center said in a statement that three other journalists were injured.

According to Al-Mayadeen, Hasbaya was not subject to an evacuation order. Farhat said the journalists coordinated their movements with both the Lebanese army and the United Nations. The Washington Post could not immediately verify the reports.

The Associated Press reports that many of the journalists there have moved from the nearby town of Marjayoun, which has seen sporadic strikes in recent weeks.

The Committee to Protect Journalists, which tracks the deaths of reporters around the world, said earlier this week that 123 Palestinian journalists, as well as two Israeli and three Lebanese colleagues.