Three journalists are killed in their sleep in an Israeli airstrike in southern Lebanon

BEIRUT (AP) — An Israeli airstrike killed three journalists early Friday as they slept in a guesthouse in southeastern Lebanon, a rare attack on an area that had so far been spared from hostilities in the rest of the region.

It was the latest in a series of Israeli attacks against journalists covering the war Gaza and Lebanon last year.

The 3 a.m. airstrike reduced the site – a series of guesthouses surrounded by trees rented by various media outlets covering the war – to rubble. Cars marked “PRESS” were overturned and covered in dust and debris. The Israeli army issued no warning before the attack and later said it was investigating the case.

Those killed were cameraman Ghassan Najjar and broadcast technician Mohammed Rida from the Beirut-based pan-Arab television channel Al-Mayadeen TV, and cameraman Wissam Qassim, who worked for the Lebanese Hezbollah group's Al-Manar TV. This came after a strike earlier this week that hit an Al-Mayadeen office on the outskirts of Beirut's southern suburbs. Both media outlets are linked to Hezbollah and its main backer, Iran.

The attack in the Hasbaya region, which had previously been spared from Israeli airstrikes on other parts of southern Lebanon, drew widespread condemnation from officials, journalists and press advocacy groups. Television crews had arrived in Hasbaya thinking it was safer after Israel issued an evacuation order for a town further south from which they were reporting.

“That’s why we see it as a direct target aimed at getting the journalists out of the south,” said Elsy Moufarrej, coordinator of the Alternative Press Syndicate in Lebanon. “They want to prevent journalists from reporting on the south of Lebanon and being present there.”

Lebanese Information Minister Ziad Makary said the journalists were killed while reporting on what he called Israel's “crimes,” pointing out that they were among a large group of media figures.

“This is an assassination attempt, after surveillance and prosecution, with premeditation and planning, as 18 journalists were present on site, representing seven media institutions,” he wrote in a post on X.

Imran Khan, a senior correspondent for Al Jazeera English who was among the journalists at the Hasbaya Village Club guesthouses, said the airstrike occurred without warning at around 3:30 a.m.

“These were just journalists sleeping in bed after long days of covering the conflict,” he posted on social media, adding that he and his team were unhurt.

Hussein Hoteit, a cameraman for Egypt's Al-Qahira TV, said he was sleeping when he woke up and felt a “huge weight” as the walls and ceiling collapsed. He was miraculously rescued by colleagues who managed to clear away the debris that covered him a few minutes later.

He said two rockets hit the chalet next door, although he did not hear them. He spoke from his hospital bed, where he is being treated for thigh injuries.

Friday's deaths are the latest in a long time List of journalists who were killed by Israel in Gaza and Lebanon last year.

In a report earlier this month, the Committee to Protect Journalists said at least 128 journalists and media workers, except five Palestinians, had been killed in Gaza and Lebanon – more journalists than in any year since it began documenting killings of journalists Year 1992. All but two of the murders were carried out by Israeli forces, it said.

“One year later, Israel’s warfare in Gaza has taken an unprecedented and terrible toll on Palestinian journalists and the region’s media landscape,” the report, released Oct. 4, said.

The Killing of journalists has sparked international outcry from press advocacy groups and United Nations experts, although Israel has said it is not intentionally targeting them.

Lebanon's health minister says 11 journalists were killed and eight injured by Israeli fire in Lebanon last year.

In November 2023, Two Al-Mayadeen TV journalists were killed in a drone attack. A month earlier there was an Israeli shelling in southern Lebanon killed Reuters videographer Issam Abdallah and other injured journalists from the French international news agency Agence France-Presse and the Qatari broadcaster Al-Jazeera TV.

This week Israel accused journalists working for Al Jazeera claimed to be members of militant groups, citing documents allegedly found in Gaza. The network has dismissed the claims as “a blatant attempt to silence the few remaining journalists in the region.”

The Committee to Protect Journalists also dismissed them, saying that “Israel has repeatedly made similar unsubstantiated claims without providing credible evidence.”

Jad Shahrour, spokesman for the Samir Kassir Eyes Center for Media and Cultural Freedom, told The Associated Press on Friday that the bombing of press centers was a deliberate attempt to erase the truth.

“It means they are creating a media blackout,” he said, adding that it was a worrying trend that was now shifting from Gaza to Lebanon.

Al-Mayadeen director Ghassan bin Jiddo claimed that Friday's Israeli attack was deliberate and targeted those covering elements of its military offensive.

Ali Shoeib, Al-Manar's prominent correspondent in southern Lebanon, was seen in a video filming himself with a cellphone and saying that the cameraman who had worked with him for months was killed. Shoeib said the Israeli military was aware that journalists from various media organizations were being housed in the attacked area.

“We covered the news and showed the suffering of the victims, and now we are the news and the victims of Israeli crimes,” Shoeib added in the video broadcast on Al-Manar TV.

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Karam reported from London. Associated Press writer Bassem Mroue in Beirut contributed.