“War crime”: Israel kills three journalist in southern Lebanon

Beirut (Quds News Network)- The Israeli military has killed three journalists in a direct hit while sleeping in their accommodation in southern Lebanon, earlier this morning.

The air raid hit a compound in Hasbaiyya housing several journalists at about 4am (01:00 GMT) on Friday, killing two cameramen and a technician.

The three were identified as cameraman Ghassan Najjar, engineer Mohamed Reda, worked for Al Mayadeen, and Wissam Qassim, a camera operator, worked for Al-Manar TV.

Local news station Al Jadeed aired footage showing collapsed buildings and cars marked “press” covered in dust and rubble.

Lebanon’s Information Minister Ziad Makary called the attack an “assassination” and a “war crime.”

“This is an assassination, after monitoring and tracking, with premeditation and planning, as there were 18 journalists present at the location representing seven media institutions,” he wrote on social media platform X.

Ghassan bin Jiddo, the director of Al Mayadeen, said on X that Israel’s “targeting of the journalists’ residence was deliberate, and there are injured journalists from other Arab channels”.

“We hold the occupation fully responsible for this war crime, in which journalist crews, including the Al Mayadeen team, were targeted.”

Reports noted that the Israeli military gave no warnings before attacking, and Hasbaiyya, where the attack took place, is not under forced evacuation orders by the Israeli military.

Israeli forces have been accused of directly targeting journalists in the Gaza and Lebanon assaults.

In Gaza, at least 175 Palestinian journalists have been killed since the start of Israel’s ongoing genocide war on October 7, 2923, according to Gaza’s Government Media Office.

In Lebanon, 11 Lebanese journalists have been killed since October 2023 in direct Israeli attacks, Lebanon’s Minister of Health announced on Friday.