Three journalists killed in Israeli attack on south Lebanon

Employees of several media outlets covering the war were staying at guesthouse in town of Hasbaya

Destroyed vehicles used by journalists at the site of the Israeli air strike in Hasbaya, southern Lebanon, that killed three media workers AP Photo

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At least three media workers were killed and another three injured when Israel bombed a residential cluster housing journalists in south Lebanon early on Friday, in an attack described by a Lebanese minister as a "war crime".

Those killed were a cameraman and an engineer working for Lebanese news channel Al Mayadeen and a cameraman working for Al Manar, a TV station backed by Hezbollah.

Al Mayadeen named the cameraman as Ghassan Najjar and the engineer as Mohammed Rida, while Al Manar said its cameraman Wissam Qassim was also killed in the attack on Hasbaya. The town at the foot of Mount Hermon is a base for many media outlets covering Israel's war on Hezbollah in the south. Although Hasbaya is in southeast Lebanon, it has been spared from the fighting thus far and Israel has not commented on why it launched the attacks.

The media workers killed were staying in a group of bungalows in Hasbaya. Videos from the scene showed heavily damaged bungalows, while vehicles clearly marked 'press' were also caught up in the attack.

Eighteen journalists from seven media organisations were staying at the site and were asleep at the time of the strike, Lebanon's Minister of Information Ziad Makary said. He described the attacks as premeditated and a “war crime”.

Israel was “scared” of reports from the Lebanese press, said Farhat Muhammad, a correspondent for Lebanese channel Al Jadeed, who was also staying at the guesthouse.

“They tried to strike us into silence,” he said on air after the attacks. “But we, like the people of Lebanon and the honourable people everywhere in this country, will not be silenced.”

The Samir Kassir Foundation's monitor, the SKeyes Centre for Media and Cultural Freedom, described the strike as “another war crime and a direct attack on journalists resting after a day of covering intense attacks”.

Earlier this week Israel attacked an office used by Al Mayadeen in south Lebanon which had already been evacuated. Two journalists from the channel were killed when Israel bombed their position last November.

Friday's attacks mark the deadliest day for the media in Lebanon since conflict broke out between Israel and Hezbollah more than a year ago.

Elsewhere, the Israeli military said on Friday that five soldiers were killed in fighting in southern Lebanon.

The attacks come more than a year after a cameraman from Reuters was killed and six other journalists injured by Israeli fire while covering cross-border shelling in south Lebanon. Human rights groups have called for the October 2023 attack that killed Issam Abdallah to be investigated as a war crime.

In Gaza, Israeli attacks have killed at least 128 journalists and media workers since Israel launched a military offensive in the Palestinian enclave on October 7 last year, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists.

There was an uproar earlier this week after Israeli claimed that six journalists from Al Jazeera were current or former paid fighters for Palestinian militant groups. Al Jazeera said the accusations were “fabricated”.

Elsewhere, Israel continued its nightly bombardment of south Beirut with at least 13 attacks on various areas. The Israeli army issued a warning for residents to leave only moments before launching the attacks. There were no immediate reports of casualties.

Israel resumed daily bombings of the Lebanese capital after a brief lull last week. Israel has ratcheted up its attacks on Lebanon In the past month, invading the country, destroying vast swathes of southern Lebanon and parts of Beirut despite international calls for a ceasefire.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is scheduled to meet Lebanese caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati in London on Friday to discuss the conflict.

More than 2,500 people have been killed and 1.2 million displaced in Lebanon since Hezbollah and Israel began exchanging cross-border fire on October 8 last year.