Vehicles marked with ‘Press’ insignia were stationed outside the location devastated by the airstrike. Photo: Mohammad Zaatari/AP
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In the early hours of Friday, a tragic event unfolded as an Israeli airstrike targeted a press station in Hasbaya, southern Lebanon, resulting in the loss of life among three journalists from Hezbollah-linked TV channels Al Mayadeen and Al-Manar. Additionally, several others sustained injuries.
The assault impacted a series of modest cabins where 18 journalists from diverse media organizations — such as Al Jazeera, Sky News Arabia, and TRT — were residing while covering the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah in the southern region of Lebanon. Numerous vehicles bearing “Press” signs were also situated at the scene.
The lives lost included Wissam Qassem, a cameraman for Al-Manar; Ghassan Najjar, an Al Mayadeen correspondent; and Mohammad Reda, a technician. Though Al-Manar serves as a voice for Hezbollah and Al Mayadeen maintains a pro-Hezbollah stance, human rights advocates adamantly assert that a journalist’s political ties do not justify targeting them. Under global humanitarian law, journalists are regarded as civilians, and any intentional harm directed at them constitutes a war crime.
The Lebanese information minister, Ziad Makary, publicly denounced the attack, labeling it as a war crime. Notably, Israel has claimed the lives of 12 journalists in Lebanon, among whom six perished while on duty since hostilities erupted on 8 October 2023, including renowned Reuters photojournalist Issam Abdallah. After thorough investigation by several international human rights bodies and news organizations, it was concluded that Abdallah fell victim to an Israeli tank assault in what appeared to be a premeditated act.
The airstrike inflicted damage upon the group at approximately 3:30 am local time (0130 BST). “I recall no boom; the rocket whoosh woke me,” revealed Darine El Helwe, a senior Sky News Arabia journalist present at the incident, “The chalet collapsed on my colleagues.”
For the past month, the journalists used Hasbaya as a sanctuary, finding rest there before heading south to document the ongoing war. Not allied with Hezbollah, Hasbaya had largely been spared from Israeli strikes over the last year. The journalists had relocated there after their former accommodation became a perilous zone due to increasing Israeli bombings.
El Helwe indicated that this recent escalation might deter reporters, many believing south-east Lebanon was inviolable. “Was the intent to suppress visuals of the chaos? If they aimed to neutralize a crew, surely the roadside was an option. Targeting us in our sleep was… surreal.”
The chalet housing Al Mayadeen and Al-Manar journalists bore the brunt of the attack. Notably, on Wednesday, another Israeli strike hit Al Mayadeen’s office in Beirut’s southern suburbs, subsequently abandoned. A year prior, two of their journalists fell to Israeli airstrikes in southern Lebanon.
The somber tally includes at least 125 journalists slain amidst Israel’s Gaza conflict over the past year, noted by the Committee to Protect Journalists. Recently, Israel claimed that six journalists from Al Jazeera in Gaza were affiliated with groups like Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad. The network refuted these claims, calling them “unfounded,” and implored global intervention to safeguard the accused journalists.
Edited by: Ali Musa
alimusa@axadletimes.com
Axadle international–Monitoring
