Israeli strikes in southern Lebanon have killed at least five people, including a journalist, according to Lebanon’s National News Agency (NNA), in an escalation that threatens a fragile ceasefire.
The NNA said an initial strike targeted a car in the village of at-Tiri on Wednesday, killing two people inside, reports Al Jazeera.
Israel’s military said it struck two vehicles in southern Lebanon that departed from a military structure used by the Lebanese armed group Hezbollah.
A subsequent air strike hit a building in the same village, where a journalist had taken shelter. The NNA reported that the journalist was trapped under the rubble. Amal Khalil, who worked for the local media outlet Al Akhbar, was later confirmed dead at the scene by her employer.
Reporting from Tyre, southern Lebanon, Al Jazeera correspondent Heidi Pett said two Al Akhbar journalists had travelled to at-Tiri following the earlier attack.
“Amal Khalil and Zeinab Faraj had gone to the site of an earlier Israeli drone strike on a car, which reportedly killed two civilians in the town of at-Tiri,” Pett reported.
“For several hours … the Red Cross and rescue workers [tried] to reach those two journalists. They were unable to do that for a long time due to continued Israeli attacks in the area.”
Faraj was later taken to a local hospital and was reportedly in “very serious condition and will be requiring surgery”, Pett added.
Lebanon’s Ministry of Health earlier accused Israel of pursuing the journalists by targeting the building where they had taken refuge. The NNA also reported that an Israeli strike hit the main road linking at-Tiri with Haddatha, “to prevent ambulance teams from reaching the two journalists”.
Lebanon’s Information Minister Paul Morcos condemned the attack.
“We strongly condemn this assault, holding Israel fully responsible for their safety, and affirming the necessity of immediately ensuring their protection and guaranteeing freedom of media work,” Morcos said on X.
In its statement, the Israeli military said it “does not target journalists and acts to mitigate harm to them”, and denied obstructing rescue efforts at the strike site.
