In the early hours of Friday, October 25, an Israeli warplane targeted a guesthouse allocated for media crews in Lebanon’s southern town of Hasabaya, while journalists were still asleep. Three journalists were killed in the deadly aerial attack, who were identified as Wissam Qassem, who worked for Al-Manar news network as a cameraman, Ghassan Najjar, a camera operator of Al Mayadeen Media Network and his co-worker, broadcast engineer Mohamed Reda. The airstrike marked another lamentable incident for Lebanese people and those who believe in the freedom of press.
A number of other journalists were also injured in the attack on the guesthouse, which accommodated at least 18 journalists from different local and international media outlets including MTV, Sky News Arabia, Al-Jazeera, Al Araby, Al Qahira News, Al-Ghad TV, and TRT World, in addition to the crews of Al Mayadeen and Al-Manar.
Hours after the attack, the Lebanese Health Minister Firass Abiad announced that the death toll of Lebanese journalists killed by Israel since October 2023 has risen to 11, with eight others injured. Lebanese caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati condemned the attack on Friday, describing it as a “new chapter of war crimes”, and accusing Israel of “deliberately targeting” media workers in a bid to prevent them from reporting on its aggression on southern Lebanon. “Israel’s goal is to intimidate the media to cover up the crimes it is committing,” Mikati said.
Lebanon’s Minister of Information Ziad Makary echoed Mikati’s accusation against Israel by stating: “The Israeli enemy waited for the journalists’ nightly break to strike them while they were asleep.” “This is an assassination with premeditated intent as there were 18 journalists present representing seven media institutions,” Makary added.
As access to information about Israel’s war crimes becomes easier and faster than before, Israel finds itself in a bind, as it is unable to monopolize international public opinion and even international media outlets to spread its propaganda. Thus many have seen Israel’s attacks on journalists, and media workers in Gaza and Lebanon as an attempt to cover up its war crimes during its one-year genocidal aggression.
Hezbollah’s Media Relations Office also issued a statement denouncing the attack and describing it as a new crime that is added to “the Israeli enemy’s horrific and terrorist record of targeting journalists and media outlets in Gaza and Lebanon.”
Meanwhile, the Chairman of the Board of Directors of Al Mayadeen media network Ghassan Ben Jeddou held Israel “fully responsible for deliberately targeting journalists working for Al Mayadeen and other Arab channels.” Ben Jedou also said that Israel “finds pleasure in killing”, and that journalists are among its targets as they “expose its criminality”.
Al Mayadeen’s correspondent in southern Lebanon Fatima Ftouni was among the journalists who were at the guesthouse at the time of the airstrike. Fatima, who escaped the attack unscathed, gave her testimony in a live coverage of Al Mayadeen from the site, hours after the attack took place.
“Two missiles from a warplane directly targeted press crews,” Fatima said, while carrying her protective vest that was torn by shrapnel, confirming that cars parked at the site were clearly marked with the word ‘PRESS’.
International press freedom organizations also condemned the attack and called for an investigation into the incident.
“Deliberately targeting journalists is a war crime under international law. This attack must be independently investigated and the perpetrators must be held to account,” Carlos Martínez de la Serna, the Program Director of the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) said in a statement on Friday.
Reporters Without Borders (RSF) also called for an international investigation into the incident urging the Lebanese government to approach the concerned international judicial body immediately.
“This latest Israeli strike on a building known to house journalists is an outrage. The evidence we have seen indicates it was likely a targeted strike on media professionals, which constitutes a war crime. In order to allow for an international investigation into this incident, we urge the Lebanese government to recognize the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court without delay. Failing to do so will only contribute to further impunity. We also call yet again on Israeli forces to immediately cease attacks on journalists in Lebanon, in Gaza, and the surrounding areas,” RSF’s Director of Campaigns Rebecca Vincent stated.
The Israeli forces also recently posted a hitlist of six Gaza-based Palestinian journalists and accused them of pertaining to resistance groups and calling them “terrorists”.
