Israeli strike kills three journalists in southern Lebanon

The strikes made it the deadliest day for media in a year of hostilities between the Israeli military and the Lebanese Hezbollah militia. There was no immediate comment from Israel, which in general denies deliberately attacking journalists.

Five journalists had been killed in previous Israeli strikes in Lebanon during the conflict, including Reuters visual journalist Issam Abdallah.

Hasbaya is a town inhabited by both Muslims and Christians. There have been attacks on its outskirts in recent weeks, but Friday’s, at around 3 a.m. (midnight GMT), was the first on the town itself.

“This is a war crime,” Lebanese Information Minister Ziad Makary said. At least 18 journalists from six media outlets, including Sky News, Al-Jazeera and Lebanese broadcasters, were staying at the guesthouses.

“We heard the airplane flying very low – that’s what woke us up – and then we heard the two missiles,” Muhammad Farhat, a reporter with the Lebanese outlet Al-Jadeed, told Reuters.

He said several bungalows had been damaged. His footage showed overturned and damaged cars, some marked “Press”.

“We had been reporting from there for about a month without anything happening. I don’t even know how I climbed out from under the rubble,” Farhat said.

Ghassan bin Jiddo, the director of Al-Mayadeen, said on the channel’s X account that the attack was “deliberate”.

“We hold the occupation (Israel) fully responsible for this war crime, in which journalist crews including the Al-Mayadeen team were targeted,” bin Jiddo said.

A day earlier, Israel had struck an office used by Al-Mayadeen in Beirut’s southern suburbs. Lebanon’s health ministry said one person had been killed and five others, including a child, wounded.

Beirut authorities say the Israeli military campaign has killed more than 2,500 people and displaced more than 1.2 million people, creating a humanitarian crisis.

On Thursday, an Israeli strike killed three Lebanese soldiers as they tried to evacuate wounded people from the border village of Yater, the Lebanese army said. There was no comment from the Israeli military.

The U.S. has said Israel should take steps to avoid civilian casualties and not endanger U.N. peacekeepers or Lebanese army troops in its attacks in Gaza and Lebanon.

Israel, which has been criticised for shelling hospitals and schools, has said it targets Hamas and Hezbollah militants precisely, accusing them of using civilians as shields.

The Committee to Protect Journalists, CPJ, said that, as of Oct. 24, its preliminary investigations showed at least 128 media workers had been killed since the start of the Gaza war, making it the deadliest period for journalists since CPJ began gathering data in 1992.

Of those, 123 were Palestinian, two Israeli and three Lebanese.

A month into Israel’s military operation against the Iran-backed Hezbollah, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken warned in Doha that “this cannot lead, should not lead, to a protracted campaign”.

Blinken also said he hoped Iran was getting the message that further attacks on Israel would put its own interests at risk. Israel has vowed retaliation for an Iranian missile barrage on Oct. 1.

U.S. and Israeli negotiators will gather in Doha to prepare for new talks on a Gaza ceasefire that would also entail the release of Israeli hostages, Qatar and Washington said.

Israel said David Barnea, head of the Mossad intelligence agency, would travel to Doha on Sunday to meet with CIA director William Burns and Qatar’s prime minister.

An Egyptian security delegation met a delegation of Hamas leaders in Cairo as part of the efforts to revive Gaza ceasefire talks, Egypt’s state-affiliated Al Qahera News TV said.

Hamas senior official Osama Hamdan told Al-Mayadeen there was no change in the group’s position. “The hostages held by the resistance will only return with a stop to the aggression and complete withdrawal,” Hamdan said.

Blinken is on his first trip to the region since Israel killed Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, a mastermind of the group’s Oct. 7, 2023 attack on Israel, which triggered conflict across the Middle East. Washington, Israel’s close ally, has expressed hope that his death can provide an impetus for an end to the fighting.

Lieutenant General Herzi Halevi, the head of Israel’s military, has said an end to the conflict with Hezbollah now looks possible as Israel has killed most of its senior commanders.

Lebanon’s caretaker prime minister, Najib Mikati said the onus was on Israel. “The storm we are currently witnessing… carries the seeds of total destruction, not only for our country, but for all human values,” he said.

Hezbollah launched attacks against Israel a day after the Palestinian militant group Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023 assault on southern Israel, which killed 1,200 people and resulted in another 250 being abducted, according to Israeli tallies.

Israel’s Gaza offensive has killed nearly 43,000 people, according to Gaza authorities, and laid waste to the territory.