Friday, April 24, 2026 - Lebanon’s Prime Minister has accused Israel of committing war crimes after an airstrike in southern Lebanon on Wednesday killed a journalist and seriously wounded another.
Amal Khalil, a 43-year-old reporter for the Lebanese
newspaper Al Akhbar, was killed while on assignment in the village of at-Tiri.
Her colleague, freelance photojournalist Zeinab Faraj, was seriously injured in
the same incident. According to the National News Agency (NNA), Khalil is the
fourth media worker killed by Israeli strikes in Lebanon since March.
The journalists had reportedly traveled to at-Tiri to cover
the aftermath of an earlier drone strike on a vehicle. While they were seeking
shelter in a nearby building, a subsequent airstrike struck the structure.
Rescue efforts by the Red Cross were delayed for several hours due to continued
attacks in the vicinity.
“Targeting journalists and obstructing the access of rescue
teams to them, and then the renewed targeting of those teams after they’d
arrived, constitute described war crimes,” Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam
posted on X. He stated that such attacks are no longer “isolated incidents” but
an “established method.”
The Lebanese Health Ministry further alleged that Israeli
forces "pursued" the journalists to their place of shelter and used
gunfire and stun grenades to prevent an ambulance from reaching the scene.
Clayton Weimer, executive director of Reporters Without Borders, characterized
the incident as a "callous disregard" for life and a "deliberate
and targeted killing."
The Israeli military acknowledged that the journalists were
injured but maintained that it “does not target journalists and acts to
mitigate harm to them.” The military added that the details of the incident are
currently under review and denied preventing emergency teams from accessing the
area.
The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) issued a
statement holding Israeli forces responsible for the "targeted
strike" on the journalists' location. According to the CPJ, Israel was
responsible for two-thirds of all media worker killings globally in 2025.
Amal Khalil had previously been the target of threats in
2024, warning her to leave southern Lebanon. Her colleagues and peers have
described her as a dedicated professional who remained committed to her
humanitarian and journalistic duties until her death.
This escalation occurred during a fragile ceasefire that
began last Friday, as officials from both nations prepared for a second round
of talks scheduled for Thursday in Washington.
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