Lebanese Army Officer Shoves Press Photographers After Israeli Drone Strike In Saida

A heated altercation broke out Wednesday in Saida between a Lebanese Army officer and press photographers who had come to cover an Israeli drone strike that targeted a utility vehicle earlier in the day.

“PRESS FREEDOM Heated altercation between army and press photographers after Israeli strike in Saida The syndicate is calling for an investigation”

L'Orient Today

L'Orient Today reported that the events took place shortly after an Israeli strike before 1 p.m. that killed the driver of a vehicle and injured his passenger near the city’s stadium.

L'Orient-Le Jour

Independent photographer Fadel Itani told L’Orient-Le Jour, "Without hesitation, he ordered us to move back, using gutter language."

Itani said the exchange escalated when his colleague Mohammad Zeinati was shoved and the officer confiscated his phone, before the situation was eventually defused after interventions from the army’s Orientation Directorate and the Press Photographers Syndicate.

The Press Photographers Syndicate condemned what it called "the assault on Mohammad Zeinati, Fadel Itani, and other colleagues" as they carried out their professional duty covering the Israeli attack in Saida.

In the same statement, the syndicate said it "categorically rejects any attacks on journalists" and emphasized that press photographers are not a party to the conflict but witnesses who transmit facts.

VOI.id

L'Orient Today described the incident as involving shoving, tense verbal exchanges, and the temporary confiscation of a photographer’s phone, before the army’s Orientation Directorate and the syndicate intervened to contain it.

The report also said confusion remained after the confrontation, with the photographer asking, "Why such foul language, when we did not show any disrespect to the army?"

Across Lebanon, L'Orient-Le Jour said Israeli strikes carried out on Wednesday killed at least 28 people across several regions, with cross-checked tallies from its correspondent Mountasser Abdallah and the Health Ministry.

“TESTIMONIES 'How much longer can we hold on”

Today

The same report described Israeli drones intensifying targeted strikes along roads of southern Lebanon, including a drone raid on a utility van in Sidon near the city’s stadium that killed a father and wounded his son.

In Deir Mimas, a Christian-majority village in the Marjayoun district, Today reported that at 5 a.m. Tuesday the ground began to shake and residents later discovered an Israeli strike had destroyed the village well and the solar panels powering it, cutting off potable running water.

Today also said the attack leveled an uninhabited four-story residential building owned by the local Greek Orthodox foundation, which contained eight apartments, while residents faced uncertainty about whether to leave their land.