Israeli airstrike kills journalist in south Lebanon: civil defence

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 rescuers were “able to recover the body of martyred journalist Amal Khalil, who was killed as a result of a hostile airstrike that targeted a house in the town of al-Tiri”.

Her employer, the Lebanese daily newspaper Al-Akhbar, also announced her death.

Lebanon’s Information Minister Paul Morcos said Khalil “was targeted by the Israeli army while carrying out her professional duty”.

“The targeting of journalists is a grave crime and a blatant violation of international humanitarian law,” he added 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 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 had frequently worked with Khalil.

Earlier on 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. Subsequently, the structure from which the individuals had fled was also struck,” the army added.

“Reports were received that two journalists were injured as a result of the strikes. The IDF is not preventing rescue teams from reaching the area.”