Lebanese journalist Amal Khalil was killed on Wednesday when an Israeli airstrike hit a house in the southern village of al-Tiri where she had taken cover while reporting on the Israel-Hezbollah war. Khalil, a reporter for Lebanon's Al-Akhbar newspaper, had sought shelter after an earlier Israeli airstrike struck near the vehicle she was travelling in with a colleague.
Details of the Incident
The Lebanese health ministry reported that the initial airstrike claimed two lives. A subsequent Israeli airstrike then targeted the house in al-Tiri where Khalil and her colleague Zeinab Faraj had taken cover. Rescue workers initially reached Faraj, who sustained serious injuries, and recovered bodies from the first strike. However, they came under fire from Israeli forces, forcing them to abandon efforts to reach Khalil, the ministry said.
Khalil remained trapped under rubble for several hours before the Lebanese army, civil defence teams, and the Lebanese Red Cross were able to access the scene. Her body was recovered shortly before midnight, at least six hours after the strike.
Reactions and Denials
Israel's military claimed individuals in the village had breached the ceasefire, putting its troops at risk. Israel denied deliberately targeting journalists or preventing rescue teams from reaching the area, adding that the matter was under review. Lebanon's Information Minister Paul Morcos stated, "Killing of journalists is a crime and a flagrant violation of international and humanitarian law."
Context and Aftermath
Khalil's death came on the eve of the second round of direct talks between Israeli and Lebanese officials in Washington on extending the ceasefire that went into effect last Friday. US President Donald Trump later claimed the ceasefire had been extended for three weeks. Khalil, who hailed from southern Lebanon, had been reporting on the region since 2006 for Al-Akhbar, with her most recent coverage focusing on Israeli demolitions of Lebanese homes.
Her death brings the total number of journalists killed in Lebanon this year to nine. At least 2,300 people have lost their lives in Israeli strikes, with more than 1 million displaced since the latest Israel-Hezbollah conflict broke out on March 2. Earlier on Wednesday, Reporters Without Borders urged the international community to pressure the Israeli army into permitting Khalil's rescue. The Committee to Protect Journalists expressed its "outrage" at the apparent targeting of the two journalists, warning that obstructing rescue efforts "may amount to a war crime."
Lebanon's President Joseph Aoun called upon the Lebanese Red Cross to work alongside the Lebanese army and UN peacekeepers "to carry out the rescue operation" as swiftly as possible. In late March, an Israeli airstrike on southern Lebanon claimed the lives of three journalists covering the conflict, including Al-Manar TV correspondent Ali Shoeib, whom Israel claimed was a Hezbollah intelligence operative, though no evidence was provided.
