Three Lebanese Journalists Killed in Israeli Strike
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- Ali Shoeib (Al Manar TV), Fatima Ftouni, and her brother Mohamed Ftouni (both Al Mayadeen) were killed when their car was hit in Jezzine, southern Lebanon, just before noon (10:00 GMT) on Saturday, their employers said.
- The IDF confirmed killing Shoeib and Mohamed Ftouni, claiming they belonged to Hezbollah's elite Radwan Force and used their journalist positions to gather intelligence on Israeli soldiers and spread Hezbollah propaganda, but provided no evidence; the IDF said it was aware of reports a female journalist also died.
- Hezbollah denounced the strike as "deliberate criminal targeting of journalists," calling the IDF's justifications "an expression of its weakness and fragility," while Lebanese President Joseph Aoun called it a "brazen crime" violating international law and PM Nawaf Salam branded it a "flagrant violation of international humanitarian law."
- Iran's foreign minister Abbas Araghchi called the strike a "clearly a targeted assassination" meant to "silence the voices of truth-tellers," and the Committee to Protect Journalists said Lebanon has become "an increasingly deadly zone for journalists," accusing Israel of a "disturbing pattern" of labeling journalists combatants "without providing credible evidence."
- The attack marks the second time Israel has been accused of targeting journalists in Lebanon since the US-Israel war against Iran began a month ago; on March 18, Al Manar reported presenter Mohammad Sherri and his wife were killed in a Beirut strike while sleeping.
- The Lebanese Ministry of Health reports more than 1,100 civilians, including 120 children and 42 paramedics, have been killed and more than a million people displaced in Lebanon during the conflict, with fears Israel is using tactics similar to those accused in Gaza.
- The strike comes against a fragile November 2024 ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah, which has frayed as Hezbollah fired rockets in retaliation for the killing of Iran's supreme leader and Israel escalated operations to protect northern Israeli communities.
Why it matters: The killing of three journalists in a single strike, and the IDF's labeling of two as Hezbollah militants without offering evidence, intensifies international legal and diplomatic pressure on Israel at a moment when press freedom groups are already documenting what they call a pattern of unevidenced accusations. With 1,100+ Lebanese civilians killed and 1 million displaced, the strike deepens fears that tactics criticized in Gaza — targeting journalists, medics, and civilians — are now expanding to the Lebanon theater.
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