Deadly Israeli strike on journalists in Lebanon prompts global condemnation
Updates Oct 25 story with comment from Israeli military in paragraph 7
BEIRUT, Oct 25 (Reuters) -Three journalists were killed in Lebanon by an Israeli strike on Friday morning, drawing condemnation from rights advocates about the number of reporters who have lost their lives in the region over the past year.
The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) said it "strongly condemned" the attack, urging the international community to "stop Israel's long-standing pattern of impunity in journalist killings".
The strike around 3 am local time hit a collection of guesthouses housing only reporters in the southern Lebanese town of Hasbaya, killing two journalists from the Al-Mayadeen television network and one journalist from Al-Manar.
Muhammad Farhat, a reporter with Lebanese broadcaster Al-Jadeed, was one of at least 18 journalists staying at the guesthouses in Hasbaya.
There was no evacuation order by Israel's military. Farhat told Reuters he had been woken up by the sound of Israeli jets flying low overhead and heard two missiles strike nearby guesthouses before the roof of his guesthouse collapsed on him.
"The scenes were terrifying. We saw our colleagues and friends cut up, their limbs strewn all over, others were screaming and begging us to pull them out," Farhat said later on Al-Jadeed, tears in his eyes.
The Israeli military said it had received reports that journalists had been hit several hours after its forces had attacked what it described as a Hezbollah military structure in Hasbaya, adding that the incident was under review.
The last year has been the deadliest period for journalists in more than 30 years, CPJ has said, with at least 126 reporters and media workers among nearly 45,000 people killed in Gaza, the Israeli-occupied West Bank and Lebanon.
Two Israeli journalists were killed in the Oct. 7 2023 Hamas-led attack on Israel that sparked the war.
Friday was the deadliest day for journalists in Lebanon over the last year. At least five other reporters have been killed in Israeli strikes while on assignment in Lebanon, including Reuters visuals journalist Issam Abdallah.
Sharing a post about Friday's strike on X, the U.N. special rapporteur on freedom of opinion and expression Irene Khan wrote: "Deliberate killing of a journalist is a war crime."
Israel denies deliberately targeting journalists.
Mazen Shaqoura, the representative of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights for the Middle East, told Al-Jadeed the strike represented "a targeting of what we hear and what we see."
Reporting by Maya Gebeily; additional reporting by Emily Rose; editing by Philippa Fletcher
Latest News
Disclaimer: The XM Group entities provide execution-only service and access to our Online Trading Facility, permitting a person to view and/or use the content available on or via the website, is not intended to change or expand on this, nor does it change or expand on this. Such access and use are always subject to: (i) Terms and Conditions; (ii) Risk Warnings; and (iii) Full Disclaimer. Such content is therefore provided as no more than general information. Particularly, please be aware that the contents of our Online Trading Facility are neither a solicitation, nor an offer to enter any transactions on the financial markets. Trading on any financial market involves a significant level of risk to your capital.
All material published on our Online Trading Facility is intended for educational/informational purposes only, and does not contain – nor should it be considered as containing – financial, investment tax or trading advice and recommendations; or a record of our trading prices; or an offer of, or solicitation for, a transaction in any financial instruments; or unsolicited financial promotions to you.
Any third-party content, as well as content prepared by XM, such as: opinions, news, research, analyses, prices and other information or links to third-party sites contained on this website are provided on an “as-is” basis, as general market commentary, and do not constitute investment advice. To the extent that any content is construed as investment research, you must note and accept that the content was not intended to and has not been prepared in accordance with legal requirements designed to promote the independence of investment research and as such, it would be considered as marketing communication under the relevant laws and regulations. Please ensure that you have read and understood our Notification on Non-Independent Investment. Research and Risk Warning concerning the foregoing information, which can be accessed here.
