Lebanon calls Israeli attack that killed media worker a 'war crime'

Lebanon accused Israel of targeting journalists in a “deliberate” attack that killed three media workers in the south of the country on Friday, calling the incident a “war crime.”

The Israeli military has not yet responded to AFP's request for comment.

Israel has been at war with Hezbollah in Lebanon since late last month to secure its northern border after nearly a year of cross-border shelling by the Iran-backed armed group.

Following the Palestinian attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, the deadliest in its history, Hezbollah began low-intensity attacks on Israel in support of its ally Hamas.

Pro-Iranian Lebanese television channel Al Mayadeen said cameraman Ghassan Najjar and broadcast engineer Mohammad Reda were killed in the attack on a journalist's residence in Hasbaya, southern Lebanon.

Another television station, Al-Manar, which is run by Hezbollah, said video journalist Wissam Qassem was also killed in the attack on a bungalow at a resort that several media organizations covering the war between Israel and Hezbollah, had rented.

After the strike, a car marked “Press” was crushed under rubble. Roof tiles were blown away and debris littered the interior of the bungalow and its surroundings.

The attack “against journalists” was one of the “war crimes of the Israeli enemy,” according to Prime Minister Najib Mikati.

He also said the attack was “premeditated.”

Earlier, Information Minister Ziad Makary said Israel was “waiting for the journalists’ night break” to strike in their sleep.

“This is an assassination attempt, after surveillance and tracking, with prior planning and planning, since there were 18 journalists there representing seven media institutions,” Makary wrote on X.

– rescuer killed –

Journalists from other media organizations, including Lebanese broadcaster Al-Jadeed, Sky News Arabic and Al Jazeera English, were also resting nearby when the attack occurred, in an area outside Hezbollah's traditional strongholds.

After nearly a year of war in Gaza sparked by the Hamas attack, Israel expanded its focus to Lebanon, launching a massive bombing campaign last month that mainly targeted Hezbollah strongholds across the country, and dispatched on March 30. September ground troops.

According to an AFP analysis by the Lebanese Ministry of Health, the war in Lebanon has cost at least 1,580 people their lives.

Lebanon's health minister said on Friday that 163 rescuers and health workers had been killed in a year of cross-border fires in the country.

The Israeli military said on Friday it had struck more than 200 militant targets in Lebanon over the past day, as it announced the deaths of five soldiers in fighting in southern Lebanon.

It also confirmed that it had attacked a northern border crossing between Lebanon and Syria and accused Hezbollah of transporting weapons through that crossing.

– Gaza attacks –

In Gaza, the Civil Defense Authority said Israeli airstrikes hit two houses at dawn on Friday in Khan Yunis, the largest city in the Palestinian territory's south.

According to agency spokesman Mahmud Bassal, 14 people – including nine children – were killed in an attack on a family's home, and another six died in a separate raid.

In northern Gaza, the Israeli military said Friday that dozens of militants had been killed around Jabalia the previous day.

Israel launched a major attack on the northern Gaza Strip earlier this month, saying it wanted to prevent Hamas from regrouping there.

Bassal said in the 19 days since then “more than 770 people have been killed” in northern Gaza.

The Hamas attack that sparked the Gaza war resulted in the deaths of 1,206 people in Israel, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of official Israeli figures.

The militants also took 251 people hostage, 97 of whom are still in Gaza, including 34 who the Israeli military says are dead.

According to Health Ministry data in Hamas-controlled territory, which the United Nations considers reliable, Israel's retaliatory campaign in Gaza has killed 42,847 people, most of them civilians.

Several attempts to end the war have failed, although Israel's main backer, the United States, has expressed hope that last week's killing of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar could serve as a starting point for an agreement.

A senior Hamas official told AFP that the group was ready to stop fighting if Israel committed to a ceasefire, after a delegation from the Doha-based leadership met with Egyptian officials in Cairo on Thursday about a possible ceasefire.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he welcomed mediator Egypt's willingness to reach an agreement “to release the hostages” held by militants in Gaza.

Netanyahu ordered the head of Israel's Mossad spy agency to head to Qatar on Sunday to “advance a number of initiatives that are on the agenda,” his office said.

Qatar, Egypt and the US have long been trying to broker a ceasefire in the Gaza war.

– “Time is running out” –

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken vowed on Friday to work with “real urgency” toward a diplomatic solution in Lebanon and called on Israel to spare civilians but did not call for an immediate ceasefire.

On Thursday he met with Qatari leaders in Doha on his 11th trip to the region since the start of the Gaza war.

During the trip, which comes less than two weeks before the U.S. election, Blinken said mediators would explore new options for a ceasefire in Gaza.

Israeli and U.S. officials and some analysts said Sinwar had been a major obstacle to a deal that would see the release of hostages still held in Gaza.

Critics of Netanyahu also regularly accused him of hindering negotiations on a ceasefire and the release of hostages.

An Israeli group representing families of hostages called on Netanyahu and Hamas to reach an agreement.

“Time is running out,” said the Forum for Hostages and Missing Families.

On Thursday, hostage supporters marched in front of Netanyahu's Jerusalem residence, demanding action for their release.

bur/ser/it

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