Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam stated that targeting journalists and their locations again after rescue teams arrived “constitutes textbook war crimes,” following the killing of journalist Amal Khalil while she was performing her journalistic work in an Israeli airstrike on southern Lebanon.
Lebanese authorities announced the killing of Khalil, who works for the newspaper “Al-Akhbar,” and the serious injury of another journalist, Zeinab Faraj. The Lebanese Ministry of Health reported that the two journalists were taking shelter from the first strike in a neighboring house, and two other people were killed in the attacks.
Amal Khalil is the fourth journalist killed by Israel in Lebanon since March, according to Lebanese data. The Committee to Protect Journalists stated that Israel was responsible for two-thirds of the killings of journalists and media workers in 2025.
Lebanese authorities added that Israeli forces bombed the town of Tayr Harfa in southern Lebanon and temporarily prevented rescue teams from reaching the residents. Zeinab Faraj was rescued and taken to a hospital under a hail of fire by Lebanese Red Cross staff, according to the National News Agency.
Meanwhile, the Israeli military acknowledged reports that two journalists were wounded by the strikes, asserting that it “does not prevent rescue teams from reaching the area,” and said the details of the incident are under review.
The same region was subjected to a series of raids, resulting in several people being injured in the Nabatieh district. The attacks occurred amid a fragile ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon, in effect since Friday.
The regional director of the Committee to Protect Journalists, Sarah Kadah, held Israeli forces responsible for endangering the life of Amal Khalil and injuring Zeinab Faraj. The attacks also sparked widespread condemnation from organizations including the United Nations and the Committee to Protect Journalists.
Nawaf Salam said on the platform “X” that targeting media professionals in the south while they carry out their professional work “has become a proven approach that we condemn and reject,” noting that Lebanon “will spare no effort in pursuing these crimes before the relevant international forums.”
Earlier this month, United Nations experts called for an independent international investigation after the Israeli military killed three journalists in Lebanon.
