An Israeli airstrike on a media shelter in southern Lebanon killed three journalists and wounded several others on Friday morning, according to multiple media reports.
The strike reportedly hit a group of small chalets in Hasbaya where 18 journalists from media outlets including Al Jazeera, Sky News Arabia and TRT were staying while covering the Israel-Hezbollah conflict. The journalists relocated to the shelter due to intensified Israeli bombing on their previous accommodation, according to statements from their employers.
The strike reportedly took place at about 3am local time (midnight GMT) while the journalists were sleeping. The victims were identified as Ghassan Najjar and Mohamed Reda of the Lebanese TV channel Al Mayadeen and Wissam Qassem, who worked for Lebanese news outlet Al Manar, according to the outlets’ statements. Reporters at the scene said the strikes specifically hit the chalet in which the Al Mayadeen and Al Manar journalists were residing. Israel considers the two news outlets to be aligned with Hezbollah.
Footage from the scene showed collapsed buildings and damaged cars, which were parked in front of the site, some marked ‘Press.’
Lebanese Information Minister Ziad Makary has condemned the airstrike, describing it “a war crime.”
“This is an assassination, after monitoring and tracking, with premeditation and planning, as there were 18 journalists present at the location representing seven media institutions,” he wrote on X (formerly Twitter).
The attack comes after an Israeli airstrike destroyed Al Mayadeen’s office in the southern suburbs of Beirut on Wednesday. The building had already been evacuated. Two of the channel’s journalists were killed a year earlier in an Israeli airstrike while reporting in south Lebanon.
Also on Friday, a UN peacekeeping mission in Lebanon stated that Israeli forces had fired at their troops in an observation post in southern Dhayra, forcing them to leave the site.
At least 125 journalists have been killed in Israel’s war in Gaza over the past year, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists.
On Wednesday, Israel accused six journalists working for Al Jazeera in Gaza of being members of Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad. The network refuted the allegations as “baseless” and called for the international community to protect the reporters.
Israel launched a major offensive in Lebanon a month ago, pounding Beirut with a wave of airstrikes, including one that killed Hezbollah’s leader, Hassan Nasrallah. The Israel Defense Forces have also launched a ground incursion into the country.
According to the Lebanese Health Ministry, the death toll from Israeli attacks has surpassed 2,500 people.