Three journalists have been killed and another three wounded by an Israeli air strike targeting Lebanon.
The Beirut-based pan-Arab network Al-Mayadeen TV said two of its staff— camera operator Ghassan Najar and broadcast technician Mohammed Rida — were both killed in a strike that hit a compound housing journalists in the country’s southeast in the early hours of Friday morning (October25th).
Broadcaster Al-Manar, said its camera operator Wissam Qassim was also killed in the strike, which took place in the Hasbaya region.
Al-Manar is a Hezbollah media outlet and Al Mayadeen is a pro-Hezbollah outlet, but rights groups have said political affiliation does not make journalists a legitimate target. Under international humanitarian law press are considered civilians and deliberately targeting them is a war crime.
Lebanon’s health ministry said another three media workers were also injured in the attack, alongside the three fatalities, adding to a death toll of more than 2,500 people in the country since hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah began.
‘This is an assassination, after monitoring and tracking, with prior planning and design, as there were 18 journalists present at the location representing seven media institutions. This is a war crime.’
Ziad Makary, Lebanese Information Minister
Local news station Al Jadeed aired footage from the scene showing collapsed buildings and cars marked “PRESS,” covered in dust and rubble. The Israeli army did not issue a warning prior to the strike, which hit a collection of chalets that had been rented by various media outlets – including Al Jazeera, Sky News Arabia and TRT.
Intentionally Targeting Journalists
Friday’s strike hit the group of journalists at about 3.30am local time (0130 BST).
‘The airstrike happened while we were sleeping. I don’t remember hearing the sound of the explosion, I heard the sound of the rocket. I came out and found the chalet had fallen on the [journalists],’ said Darine El Helwe, a senior correspondent with Sky News Arabia who was present at the time of the strike.
Lebanese Information Minister Ziad Makary accused Israel of intentionally targeting the journalists in an attack he said amounted to a ‘war crime’.
‘The Israeli enemy waited for the journalists’ night break to betray them in their sleep,’ Makary said in a post on X. ‘This is an assassination, after monitoring and tracking, with prior planning and design, as there were 18 journalists present at the location representing seven media institutions. This is a war crime.’

Israel has killed 12 journalists in Lebanon – six of whom were on duty – since fighting began on 8 October 2023. In November 2023, two journalists for Al-Mayadeen TV were killed in a drone strike at their reporting spot. A month earlier, Israeli shelling in southern Lebanon killed Reuters videographer Issam Abdallah and seriously wounded other journalists from France’s international news agency, Agence France-Presse, and Qatar’s Al-Jazeera TV on a hilltop not far from the Israeli border.
The latest deadly strike comes as Israel faces mounting accusations of intentionally targeting journalists in Gaza, which it denies.
According to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), 128 journalists have been killed in Gaza during Israel’s offensive in the enclave. The organisation warned that more journalists were killed in the first 10 weeks of Israel’s offensive in Gaza than have ever been killed in a single country over an entire year.
Image credit: Al Mayadeen