Lebanese journalist killed in Israeli strike on southern town
The body of a Lebanese journalist killed in an Israeli airstrike on southern Lebanon on Wednesday was pulled from under the rubble hours after the attack.
The daily Al-Akhbar newspaper confirmed that its reporter, Amal Khalil, was killed in the strike on the southern village of al-Tiri.
Information Minister Paul Morcos also confirmed Khalil’s death and condemned it.
Khalil had been covering the Israel-Hezbollah war since it started in October 2023 and had been reporting from different parts of southern Lebanon on the hostilities.
Earlier on Wednesday, Reporters Without Borders, or RSF, called on the international community to immediately pressure the Israeli army to allow the rescue of Khalil.
“Her life is in danger right now! Continued Israeli airstrikes are preventing rescuers from reaching her,” RSF said.
President Joseph Aoun had called on the Lebanese Red Cross to work on the rescue of Khalil prior to her death's confirmation.
Aoun had requested the Lebanese Red Cross to coordinate with the Lebanese army and U.N. peacekeepers “to carry out the rescue operation in the shortest possible time.”
The Red Cross had earlier evacuated another journalist Zeinab Faraj, who was injured in the same attack, along with the bodies of two people who were in a car that was also targeted in the location.
"Israel fired a stun grenade at the Red Cross team, forcing it to withdraw from al-Tiri. The team is expected to return later to continue the search for the journalist Amal Khalil," LBCI television said.
The Israeli military confirmed that it struck a vehicle and a structure in the area after identifying what it described as militants posing an immediate threat near the border.
The Israeli army said it was aware of reports that journalists were injured but did not confirm them and denied preventing rescue teams from reaching the area.
The details of the incident are under review, it added.
Source: Associated Press, Naharnet
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