Three journalists killed in Israeli airstrike

Three journalists have been killed in an Israeli airstrike on a building in southeastern Lebanon known to house journalists, witnesses have told the BBC.

The attack was carried out on a guesthouse in a compound in Hasbaya used by more than a dozen journalists from at least seven media organizations – with a courtyard of cars clearly marked ‘press’.

The three men worked for broadcasters Al-Manar TV and Al Mayadeen TV, which issued statements paying tribute to their slain employees.

Lebanon’s information minister said the attack was deliberate and described it as a “war crime”.

The Israeli military has not yet commented, but previously denied targeting journalists.

The dead included cameraman Ghassan Najjar and engineer Mohamed Reda of the pro-Iranian news channel Al Mayadeen, as well as cameraman Wissam Qassem of the Hezbollah-affiliated Al-Manar.

The Lebanese Health Ministry said three others were injured in the blast.

Previous Israeli attacks in Lebanon had killed five reporters, including Reuters journalist Issam Abdallah.

Footage broadcast by Al-Jadeed TV – whose journalists also shared the home – showed a bombed building with a collapsed roof and floors covered in rubble.

A vehicle used for TV broadcasts was flipped on its side, with its satellite dish mangled by nearby cables.

“All official parties were told that this house was used as a residence for journalists. We coordinated with all of them,” said an Al-Jadeed journalist, caked in concrete dust, gasping and coughing in a live broadcast.

Lebanese journalists covering the conflict in the south of the country had to move from nearby Marj’youn to Hasbaya because the former became too dangerous.

Youmna Fawwaz, a reporter for broadcaster MTV Lebanon, told the BBC that journalists at the compound were woken up by the strike at around 3am local time (1am BST).

She said ceilings had fallen on them and they were surrounded by rubble and dust, with the sound of fighter jets overhead.

Each news organization had its own building on the site, she said, and the building that housed Al Mayadeen reporters was “wiped out” while Al-Manar employees were inside.

Ms. Fawwaz said it was a media complex known as such by both Israel and Hezbollah.

“The airstrike was done on purpose. Everyone knew we were there. All the cars were labeled as press and TV. Not even a warning was given to us.”

She added: “They are trying to terrorize us, just like they are doing in Gaza. Israelis are trying to prevent us from telling the story.”

The Lebanese Information Minister accused Israel of deliberately targeting journalists in violation of international law.

“The Israeli enemy waited for the journalists’ night break to betray them in their sleep,” Ziad Makary wrote in a post on X.

“This is an assassination, after monitoring and tracking, with prior planning and design, as there were 18 journalists present representing seven media institutions.”

Hasbaya, about eight kilometers from the Israeli border, is inhabited by Muslims, Christians and people from the Druze ethnic and religious minority.

There have been attacks on the periphery in recent weeks, but this was the first attack on the settlement itself.

The attack comes as part of a widening conflict in Lebanon, where Israel has intensified airstrikes for weeks — and launched a ground invasion of border towns and villages in the south.

Lebanese authorities have recorded more than 1,700 airstrikes across the country in the past three weeks.

Hostilities broke out between Israel and Hezbollah on October 8 last year, the day after Hamas’s attack on Israel, which killed around 1,200 people. The Iranian-backed armed group has since fired rockets and drones at Israel in what it described as “solidarity” with the Palestinians in Gaza.

Nearly 2,600 people have been killed in Lebanon, according to the country’s health ministry. Many of the deaths occurred since Israel began escalating its attacks on September 23.

About 60,000 people in northern Israel have been displaced by Hezbollah rocket fire, and the Israeli government has said returning them to their homes is a key goal.

In southern Lebanon, satellite images examined by the BBC show that Israel’s intensified bombing campaign has caused more damage to buildings in two weeks than during a year of cross-border fighting.

Data shows that between October 2 and 14, more than 3,600 buildings in Lebanon appear to have been damaged or destroyed – about 54% of the total damage.