An Israeli airstrike that hit a guesthouse in southeast Lebanon has killed three journalists who were covering the Israel-Hezbollah war.
Israeli airstrike in south Lebanon kills 3 journalists as they sleep
An Israeli airstrike killed three journalists as they slept at a guesthouse in southeast Lebanon early Friday, a rare strike on an area that had so far been spared the hostilities in the rest of the region.
It was the latest in a series of Israeli attacks against journalists covering the war in Gaza and Lebanon in the past year.
The 3 a.m. airstrike turned the site – a series of guesthouses nestled among trees that had been rented by various media outlets covering the war – into rubble, with cars marked « PRESS » overturned and covered in dust and debris. The Israeli army did not issue a warning prior to the strike, and later said it was looking into it.
Those killed were camera operator Ghassan Najjar and broadcast technician Mohammed Rida of the Beirut-based pan-Arab Al-Mayadeen TV, and camera operator Wissam Qassim, who worked for Al-Manar TV of Lebanon’s Hezbollah group. It came after a strike earlier in the week that hit an office belonging to Al-Mayadeen on the outskirts of Beirut’s southern suburbs. Both outlets are aligned with Hezbollah and its main backer, Iran.
The strike in the Hasbaya region, which had so far been spared from the Israeli airstrikes pummeling other parts of south Lebanon, drew widespread condemnation from officials, journalists and press advocacy groups. TV crews had arrived in Hasbaya, deeming it safer after Israel had ordered an evacuation order for a town further south from which they were reporting.
« That is why we consider it a direct targetting, aimed at getting the journalists out of the south », said Elsy Moufarrej, coordinator for the Alternative Press Syndicate in Lebanon. « They want to prevent the journalists from covering and having presence in the south of Lebanon. »
Lebanese Information Minister Ziad Makary said the journalists were killed while reporting on what he called Israel’s « crimes », and noted they were among a large group of members of the media.
