An Israeli airstrike killed three journalists as they slept at a guesthouse in southeast Lebanon early Friday, a rare strike on an area that had so far been spared the hostilities in the rest of the region.
It was the latest in a series of Israeli attacks against journalists covering the war in Gaza and Lebanon in the past year.
The 3 a.m. airstrike turned the site — a series of chalets nestled among trees that had been rented by various media outlets covering the war — into rubble, with cars marked "PRESS" overturned and covered in dust and debris and at least one satellite dish for live broadcasting totally destroyed. The Israeli army did not issue a warning prior to the strike, and later said it was looking into it.
Mohammad Farhat, a reporter for Lebanon's Al Jadeed TV in the south, said everyone rushed out in their sleeping clothes. "The first question we asked each other: 'Are you alive?'"
Those killed were camera operator Ghassan Najjar and broadcast technician Mohammed Rida of the Beirut-based pan-Arab Al-Mayadeen TV, and camera operator Wissam Qassim, who worked for Hezbollah's Al-Manar TV. It came after a strike earlier in the week that hit an office belonging to Al-Mayadeen on the outskirts of Beirut's southern suburbs. Both outlets are aligned with Hezbollah and its main backer, Iran.
The airstrike early Friday was the latest in a series of Israeli attacks against journalists covering the war in Gaza and Lebanon in the past year. Israel has not commented on what its target was in the Friday attack. But human rights groups say deliberately targeting journalists is a war crime.
“Journalists are civilians that are entitled to protection under international humanitarian law,” said Aya Majzoub, Amnesty International's deputy director for the Middle East and North Africa. “It has been especially disturbing to see Israel target civilian institutions just because of their affiliation to Hezbollah.”