Lebanese journalist killed by Israeli airstrikes

An Israeli airstrike killed a Lebanese journalist and wounded another on Wednesday while they were working near the border with Israel, according to their employer and rescuers.

The civil defence agency’s press office said that rescuers were able to recover the body of martyred journalist Amal Khalil, who was killed as a result of a hostile airstrike by Israel that targeted a house in the town of al-Tiri.  

The strike injured freelance photographer Zeinab Faraj. 

The Lebanese daily newspaper Al-Akhbar also announced her death.

Lebanon’s Information Minister Paul Morcos stated that the Israeli army targeted Khalil while she was performing her professional duty.

“The targeting of journalists is a grave crime and a blatant violation of international humanitarian law,” he wrote on X.

The health ministry had earlier said Israeli strikes in al-Tiri had killed two people, wounded journalist Zeinab Faraj, who was taken to hospital, and left Khalil trapped.

A Lebanese Red Cross official had told AFP that they had managed to rescue Zeinab Faraj but had not reached Khalil and withdrew because of a warning strike.

Ambulance teams escorted by the Lebanese army and accompanied by a bulldozer to remove the rubble had entered the town to search for Khalil, according to journalists in southern Lebanon and local media outlets.

They reported that rescuers were able to enter the town after several hours and make contact with the 2024 ceasefire mechanism and the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL).

Khalil was a veteran correspondent for Al-Akhbar and had consistently produced field reports from south Lebanon, both in the war that began on March 2 and the earlier conflict between 2023 and 2024.

Faraj is a freelance photographer who has frequently worked with Khalil.

Earlier Wednesday, the Israeli army said in a statement it had identified two vehicles in southern Lebanon that had departed from a military structure used by Hezbollah.

“After identifying the individuals as violating the ceasefire understandings and posing an imminent threat, the Israeli Air Force struck one of the vehicles. The army added that they also struck the structure from which the individuals had fled.

"Reports indicate that the strikes resulted in injuries to two journalists." The IDF is not preventing rescue teams from reaching the area,” the army added further.