Lebanese leaders accuse Israel of war crime after journalist killed

Lebanon's leaders accused Israel on Thursday of committing a war crime, after an airstrike killed a Lebanese journalist in the country's south, with the Israeli army saying it was reviewing the incident.

Rescuers and the reporter's employer on Wednesday confirmed the death of Amal Khalil, a 42-year-old journalist who worked for the Lebanese daily al-Akhbar.

The civil defense agency said she was killed in a strike on a house in the village of al-Tiri.

"Israel deliberately targets journalists in order to conceal the truth about its crimes against Lebanon," said President Joseph Aoun, in a statement denouncing "war crimes".

Prime Minister Nawaf Salam wrote on X that "targeting journalists and obstructing access for rescue teams constitutes a war crime," adding that his government would take the case to international bodies.

When contacted by AFP on Thursday, an Israeli army spokesperson said "the incident is still under review".

A 10-day ceasefire has been in effect in Lebanon since Friday, pausing the war between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah that has left more than 2,400 dead in Lebanon.

Khalil and another journalist had taken refuge in a house in al-Tiri after an Israeli airstrike targeted a car in front of them, according to Lebanon's National News Agency (NNA).

It said the two occupants of the vehicle, the mayor of the nearby Israeli-occupied town of Bint Jbeil and a man with him, were killed.

An Israeli strike then targeted the house where the two journalists had taken refuge.

The health ministry said the attack wounded journalist Zeinab Faraj -- who was taken to hospital -- and left Khalil trapped.

A Lebanese Red Cross official told AFP they had "managed to rescue Zeinab Faraj" but were unable to reach Khalil and withdrew "because of a warning strike".

Lebanese authorities had to contact U.N. peacekeepers deployed in southern Lebanon, and it took several hours before rescue workers could regain access to the area to recover the journalist's body from the rubble.

The health ministry accused Israel on Thursday of "obstructing rescue operations" and "targeting an ambulance clearly bearing the Red Cross symbol."

The Israeli military said in a statement on Wednesday it had "identified two vehicles in southern Lebanon that had departed from a military structure used by Hezbollah."

The air force then struck a vehicle carrying "terrorists", it said, who had crossed what Israel calls the "forward defense line" in southern Lebanon and approached its troops.

- 'Accountability' -

Israel says it has established a "yellow line" deep into southern Lebanon where its troops have been posted, stopping residents from returning.

Its army denied preventing rescue teams from "accessing the area".

Rights groups have condemned Israel's repeated killing of press workers, while journalists held a protest in downtown Beirut to commemorate Khalil ahead of her funeral in her hometown of Baysariyeh in southern Lebanon.

Jonathan Dagher, head of the Middle East desk at Reporters Without Borders (RSF), said the sequence of strikes on Wednesday "would indicate targeting and obstruction of aid constituting war crimes."

Ramzi Kaiss, Lebanon researcher for Human Rights Watch, said "Israel's killing of journalist Amal Khalil should be credibly investigated with a view towards justice and accountability."

"Intentionally targeting civilians is a war crime."

On March 28, three journalists were killed in an Israeli airstrike in the south, and U.N. experts called for an international investigation.

They joined several other Lebanese journalists who have been killed by Israel since the previous conflict with Hezbollah started in 2023.

From the Beirut protest, journalist Inas Sherri told AFP "accountability is the most important thing".

"If we were holding people accountable, Israel would not have continued killing journalists one after another."