A journalist from Lebanon tragically lost her life in a deadly Israeli airstrike on a residence in southern Lebanon where she had taken refuge. Amal Khalil, who had been reporting on the Israel-Hezbollah conflict, was killed during the attack. The incident occurred in the village of al-Tiri, where Khalil sought shelter after a previous Israeli airstrike targeted a vehicle she was traveling in with a colleague.
The Lebanese health ministry confirmed that the initial strike resulted in two casualties. Subsequently, another Israeli airstrike hit the house in al-Tiri where Khalil and her colleague Zeinab Faraj were seeking safety. Despite rescue workers managing to reach Faraj and recover the bodies of the initial victims, Israeli forces’ gunfire forced them to halt their efforts to reach Khalil.
After being trapped under the rubble for several hours, Khalil’s body was finally retrieved by the Lebanese army, civil defense teams, and the Lebanese Red Cross. The recovery took place around midnight, approximately six hours after the airstrike.
Israel’s military claimed that individuals in the village had violated the ceasefire, leading to the airstrike. They denied intentionally targeting journalists or obstructing rescue operations, stating that the situation was being reviewed.
Lebanon’s Information Minister, Paul Morcos, condemned the killing of journalists as a violation of international and humanitarian laws. Khalil’s death occurred just before the second round of talks between Israeli and Lebanese officials in Washington to extend the ceasefire, which was ultimately prolonged for three weeks by US President Donald Trump.
Amal Khalil, a journalist with a history of reporting on southern Lebanon, had been covering Israeli activities in the region. Her tragic death adds to the toll of nine journalists killed in Lebanon this year. The ongoing conflict between Israel and Hezbollah has resulted in over 2,300 fatalities and displaced more than a million people since March 2.
Earlier on the same day, Reporters Without Borders and the Committee to Protect Journalists denounced the targeting of journalists and urged international intervention to facilitate rescue operations. Lebanon’s President Joseph Aoun called for swift action by the Lebanese Red Cross, the army, and UN peacekeepers to conduct the rescue mission.
In a separate incident in late March, three journalists were killed in an Israeli airstrike in southern Lebanon. Among them were Ali Shoeib from Al-Manar TV, Fatima Ftouni and her brother Mohammed Ftouni from Al-Mayadeen TV. Prior to that, another airstrike in central Beirut claimed the lives of Mohammed Sherri, head of political programs at Al-Manar TV, and his wife.
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