“War crime” in Lebanon: Israel kills three journalists in their sleep

Shafaq News/ Three journalists were killed Friday morning in an Israeli airstrike that targeted their residence in Hasbaya, southern Lebanon.

According to media outlets close to Hezbollah, the three journalists are Al-Mayadeen channel cameraman Ghassan Najjar, broadcast engineer Mohammad Reda, and Al-Manar channel cameraman Wissam Qasim.

Lebanese media quoted Lebanon’s caretaker Minister of Information, Ziad Makary, as saying, "The Israeli enemy waited for the journalists' nighttime rest to ambush them in their sleep," emphasizing that this was a "war crime."

"This was an assassination, following monitoring and tracking, with premeditated intent, as there were 18 journalists from 7 media outlets present at the location," he added.

In this context, the Lebanese Union of Workers in Audio-Visual Media condemned "the global silence over Israel's ongoing crimes against people and property without deterrence, including the recent blatant attack on journalists in Hasbaya."

The Lebanese Press Editors' Syndicate affirmed that the targeted hotel in Hasbaya houses a gathering of journalists, media personnel, and photographers, and is a civilian site, not a military one.

“It is protected under international law.”

In turn, the Lebanese Ministry of Health confirmed that the Israeli airstrike resulted in the deaths of three journalists and injuries to three others.

The ongoing Israeli war in Gaza and Lebanon has inflicted heavy losses on journalists covering the violence, with over 128 Palestinian journalists and media workers killed in Gaza, alongside six Lebanese journalists, since hostilities intensified on October 7, according to press freedom organizations.

In a November drone strike, two journalists from Al-Mayadeen TV were killed by Israel, and only a month earlier, Reuters videographer Issam Abdallah was killed by Israeli shelling in southern Lebanon, while several other journalists from international media organizations, including Agence France-Presse (AFP) and Al-Jazeera, were wounded.

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), Reporters Without Borders (RSF), and the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) reported that the recent death toll has made this period “the deadliest for journalists” since these organizations began recording such data. Most of the journalists killed were wearing identifiable press insignia.

As violence continues, these organizations have called for increased protection for journalists and accountability in cases where media workers are targeted.