Israeli Strike Kills Journalist Amal Khalil and Zainab Faraj in Al-Tiri, Southern Lebanon

Israel launched attacks on scattered areas of Lebanon on Wednesday, and the town of al-Tiri in southern Lebanon was subjected to an Israeli attack this afternoon as a car was targeted where several journalists and civilians were present, killing two people who were in the car.

The Lebanese National News Agency said Israeli forces carried out a violent bombing in al-Qantarah in southern Lebanon, and it noted that among the injured were journalists in an airstrike that targeted al-Tiri for the second time.

Al Jazeera

In al-Tiri, Israeli forces surrounded journalists Mal Khalil and Zainab Faraj and prevented the Red Cross and the Lebanese Army from reaching them, while an Israeli unmanned drone struck the town of Yahmor al-Shuqayf in southern Lebanon, killing two civilians and wounding others.

The skies over Tyre in southern Lebanon and most of the villages in the Tyre District were seen with Israeli drones at mid-altitude on Wednesday afternoon, and Israeli forces carried out systematic bombings in residential neighborhoods in Bint Jbeil and in the villages of Beit Lif, Shama, Tayr Harfa, and Hanin.

The attacks were reported alongside a ceasefire announcement, with the article stating that U.S. President Donald Trump had announced the start of a 10-day ceasefire between Lebanon and Israel, starting from midnight last Thursday.

Lebanese medical sources confirmed to Al Arabi TV the martyrdom of journalist Amal Khalil as a result of Israeli bombardment on the town of al-Tiri, and the Ansariyeh site described an urgent appeal saying colleague Amal Khalil remained under the rubble.

The Israeli army confirmed the strike, saying: "We have received reports of two journalists injured by our raids in southern Lebanon."

Al Jazeera

Anadolu Ajansı reported that the Lebanese president asked the Lebanese Red Cross to rescue the journalists and renewed his call not to attack journalists, and it said the Red Cross managed to pull journalist Zeinab Faraj, who was wounded with moderate injuries, while work was still ongoing to rescue Amal Khalil.

Anadolu Ajansı also said the Red Cross vehicle that transported Zeinab Faraj from al-Tiri to Tabnine Government Hospital came under Israeli fire, and bullets were clearly visible on the vehicle.

The article further stated that the Health Ministry’s Emergency Operations Center said that the two airstrikes on al-Tiri resulted in two martyrs and a wounded person, and rescue attempts to save journalist Amal Khalil were ongoing.

Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam mourned Amal Khalil and wrote on the X platform that "The targeting of journalists, hindering relief teams from reaching them, and even targeting their locations again after these teams arrive, constitutes war crimes of the gravest kind."

Lebanese Information Minister Paul Marqus Khalil said on X: "We mourn the martyred journalist Amal Khalil who was targeted by the Israeli army while performing her professional duty of conveying the truth in al-Tiri, southern Lebanon," and he called the targeting of journalists "a crime of the gravest kind and a flagrant violation of international humanitarian law."

The same account said a Lebanese Red Cross source told AFP, "We managed to rescue Zainab Faraj, but we had not yet reached Amal Khalil... we withdrew immediately due to a warning strike."

In contrast, the Israeli army spokeswoman said the army spotted two vehicles leaving a military building used by Hezbollah and that "After it was determined that they were violating the ceasefire, the air force attacked one of the vehicles, then struck a building to which the saboteurs had taken refuge."

The article also said the Lebanese presidency stated that President Joseph Aoun followed the circumstances surrounding the detention of the two journalists Zainab Faraj and Amal Khalil.