Israeli airstrike kills three journalists in southern Lebanon

An Israeli airstrike early on Friday morning killed at least three media staff staying at a guesthouse in Hasbaiyya town, southern Lebanon, where several other reporters were staying, Lebanese media said.

The killed included a cameraman and engineer working for Pan-Arab TV channel Al-Mayadeen and one cameraman working for Al-Manar. Other reporters at the scene said the bungalow where members of those specific outlets were sleeping was directly targeted.

The attack comes two days after Israel targeted an Al-Mayadeen office, which is linked to Hezbollah. 

“Al-Mayadeen holds the Israeli occupation accountable for the attack on a known media office for a known media outlet,” Al-Mayadeen TV said.

Two other Al- Mayadeen journalists were killed by Israeli strikes in southern Lebanon last November. 

Israel's most recent aggression in Gaza and Lebanon has been the deadliest conflict for journalists 

"As of October 24, 2024, CPJ’s preliminary investigations showed at least 128 journalists and media workers were among the more than tens of thousands killed in Gaza, the West Bank, Israel, and Lebanon since the war began, making it the deadliest period for journalists since CPJ began gathering data in 1992," the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) said. 

On Wednesday, Israel accused six Al-Jazeera journalists based in Gaza of having ties to Hamas or Palestinian Islamic Jihad. Israel said it had documents proving the Palestinian men are currently or have previously been paid to fight with the groups.

The authenticity of the documents have not been verified. 

Al-Jazeera denied the allegations. 

The CPJ criticised Israel's claims, saying Israel “has repeatedly made similar unproven claims without producing credible evidence.”

Israel killed two Al-Jazeera journalists in Gaza last July, after which they produced documents "proving" their ties to Hamas. The CPJ said the documents were contradictory. They claimed a journalist born in 1997 received a Hamas military ranking in 2007- when he was 10 years old.

“Since the war in Gaza started, journalists have been paying the highest price – their lives – for their reporting. Without protection, equipment, international presence, communications, or food and water, they are still doing their crucial jobs to tell the world the truth,” said CPJ Program Director Carlos Martinez de la Serna in New York.