Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam on Thursday accused Israel of committing war crimes after journalist Amal Khalil was killed in an Israeli airstrike while reporting in southern Lebanon.
Salam said on X that targeting media workers in the south while they perform their duties “is no longer isolated incidents, but has become an established approach that we condemn and reject.” He added that striking journalists, blocking relief teams, and re-targeting locations after rescues arrive constitute war crimes and vowed Lebanon would pursue the matter before international forums. He offered condolences to Khalil’s family.
Khalil, a correspondent for Lebanon’s Al-Akhbar newspaper, and freelance photographer Zeinab Faraj were covering developments in the village of al-Tiri on Wednesday when an Israeli strike hit the vehicle ahead of them. They sought shelter in a nearby house, which was then struck, the Lebanese Health Ministry said. Rescue teams reached Faraj, who was seriously injured, but had to abandon attempts to reach Khalil after coming under fire from Israeli forces. Khalil’s body was recovered from the rubble hours later.
Reporters Without Borders urged the international community to pressure the Israeli army to allow rescuers access. The Committee to Protect Journalists said it was “outraged” by the apparent targeting and warned that obstructing rescue efforts “may amount to a war crime.”
Israel denied blocking rescue teams and reiterated that it does not target journalists, saying the incident was under review. The Israeli military said people in al-Tiri had violated the ceasefire and posed a threat to its troops.
A 10-day ceasefire intended to halt fighting between Israel and the Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah has been in place since April 16, but exchanges of fire have continued. Israeli and Lebanese officials were due to meet in Washington for a second round of ceasefire talks. Hezbollah, a Shiite political party and militant group in Lebanon, is backed by Iran and is designated a terrorist organization by Israel, the United States, Germany and several Sunni Arab states; the EU lists only its armed wing as a terrorist entity.
Khalil, from southern Lebanon, had been reporting on the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, which flared in March after the start of the US-Israel war with Iran. Her death raises the number of journalists killed in Lebanon this year to nine.
Edited by: Sean Sinico