Airstrike kills journalists
- Airstrikes struck Al-Taïri, and reports indicate at least one journalist was killed during the strikes. - Local outlets and eyewitness posts documented damage and casualties from the strikes in the area. - The attack adds to escalating violence in the region and raised immediate concerns for press safety and civilian harm. (x.com)
An Israeli airstrike in southern Lebanon killed three journalists on March 28, the latest deadly hit on media workers covering the Israel-Hezbollah war. (apnews.com) The dead were Ali Shoaib of Al-Manar TV, Fatima Ftouni of Al-Mayadeen TV, and freelance photojournalist Mohamad Ftouni, according to their employers and the Committee to Protect Journalists. The strike hit a media car on the Jezzine highway in southern Lebanon as they were reportedly heading to an assignment. (cpj.org) The Israeli military said it had targeted Shoaib, accusing him of operating within Hezbollah “under the guise of a journalist,” but it did not provide evidence in the accounts published by Associated Press and other outlets. Lebanese officials called the killings a violation of international law. (apnews.com) The strike came during a wider escalation that followed Hezbollah’s entry into the conflict on March 2, 2026, after the opening phase of the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran. United Nations reporting said hostilities in Lebanon had already killed more than 1,500 people by mid-April and displaced about 1.2 million. (news.un.org) Journalists in Lebanon were already working under direct fire before this attack. Reporters Without Borders said journalists who were clearly identified as press had been killed in Israeli bombings in Lebanon in 2023 and 2024, and many others had been displaced or threatened. (rsf.org) The Committee to Protect Journalists said 2025 was the deadliest year on record for media workers worldwide, with Israel responsible for two-thirds of those killings. In Lebanon alone, press groups documented multiple journalist deaths in March and April 2026. (cpj.org) That pattern continued after the Jezzine strike. CPJ said Lebanese journalist Ghada Dayekh was killed in an Israeli strike on her home in Tyre on April 8, and journalist Suzan Khalil was killed the same day in Kaifun in Mount Lebanon. (cpj.org) International press groups have called for independent investigations into the March 28 strike and other attacks on media workers. Nearly two years after Reuters journalist Issam Abdallah was killed while reporting in southern Lebanon, Reporters Without Borders said Lebanon had begun examining ways to pursue legal action. (rsf.org)
