Three journalists have been killed in an Israeli airstrike on a guesthouse compound in the southeastern city of Hasbaya, Lebanon, yesterday, according to eyewitnesses and Lebanese authorities. A compound reportedly housing over a dozen journalists from different news organizations as well as with vehicles clearly marked “press” present in the area suffered the attack. The attack killed Ghassan Najjar and Mohamed Reda, both working for Al Mayadeen TV, and Wissam Qassem, working for Al-Manar TV. The networks and colleagues, in addition to the Lebanese Information Ministry, have condemned the attack as a “war crime” and deliberate targeting of media.
Israeli officials have yet to comment on the attack, but have before declared they do not target journalists. The Lebanese Health Ministry revealed three other injuries from the airstrike. The attack has received much flak from Lebanese officials and Information Minister Ziad Makary declared that the strike was deliberately targeted at journalists and was in contravention of international law.
The hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah continued unabated following the recent attacks carried out by Hamas against Israel, which increased the regional tensions. As such, the Israeli forces have boosted airstrikes across southern Lebanon to over 1,700 aerial raids in the past three weeks. An analysis of the satellite imagery shows that there is a massive destruction in the southern parts of Lebanon as more than 3,600 buildings have been damaged or destroyed in the past few days, more than were recorded during previous cross border clashes.
The tragedy has brought attention to the dangerous situation of journalists reporting on the conflict. Journalists from Lebanese had to shift their operation post from Marj’youn to Hasbaya as the former became too risky. Al Mayadeen and Al-Manar networks, among other media organizations, still urge international law to ensure protection to report freely on events happening on the ground.
