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Israel targets journalists to ‘blind the world’ to Lebanon war
Israel is, allegedly, a democracy. That’s what they always say: ‘We are the only democracy in the Middle East.’
They are now shutting down free speech violently. What’s happening now is a deliberate message to all journalists. We have to now leave. Not just us. But every other organisation that was here – local news organisations. All now have to leave because of what has happened.
This is Israel’s democracy.
Clearly, they are trying to blind the world to what’s going on in southern Lebanon by targeting journalists. Like I said, it doesn’t matter whether you like that news organisation or you dislike that news organisation. If you are a democracy, freedom of speech is a core value.
And that value has been literally turned into twisted metal and concrete here.
Three journalists killed in Israeli air raid on southern Lebanon identified
Al Mayadeen TV has confirmed that two of its staff were among three journalists killed in an Israeli attack on their accommodation in southern Lebanon, the Associated Press news agency reports.
Al Mayadeen identified the slain staff members as camera operator Ghassan Najar and broadcast technician Mohammed Rida. Al-Manar TV, which is affiliated with Hezbollah, said its camera operator Wissam Qassim was also killed in the air raid on the town of Hasbaiyya.
The Israeli army did not issue a warning prior to the attack, which is believed to have targeted the journalists.
The camera that belonged to Reuters journalist Issam Abdallah who was killed on October 13, 2023 by Israeli tank fire in southern Lebanon
Lebanese minister says Israel’s killing of 3 journalists a ‘war crime’
Lebanon’s information minister has said the Israeli military waited for journalists in Lebanon’s southern Hasbaiyya to go to sleep before launching a deliberate air strike on them. The three slain journalists from the Al Mayadeen and al-Manar TV channels had been transmitting Israeli “crimes” to the world, minister Ziad Makary wrote in a post on X.
“This is an assassination, after monitoring and tracking, with premeditation and planning, as there were 18 journalists present at the location representing seven media institutions,” he said.
“This is a war crime.”
Israel’s killing of journalists in Lebanon adds to toll of deadliest war for journalists
More journalists have been killed by the Israeli military during its attacks on Palestinians and Lebanese in the past year than in any other war in modern times. The three Lebanese journalists who were hit by the Israeli army in southern Lebanon earlier today add to that huge toll.
As of October 24, preliminary investigations by the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) showed at least 128 journalists and media workers were among the more than tens of thousands killed in Gaza, the occupied West Bank and Lebanon since the war began.
This makes it the deadliest period for journalists since CPJ began gathering data in 1992. The real number of killed journalists is likely higher, with the authorities in Gaza saying at least 175 have been killed and more attacked for carrying out their work.
Journalists in Lebanon feel there is no accountability for Israel despite killings
This is not the first time journalists have been killed in this ongoing confrontation between Israel and Hezbollah that began over a year ago. There have been at least three other incidents involving journalists being attacked and killed.
One of them was a Reuters news agency photographer, Issam Abdallah, who was killed by Israeli shelling last October. An investigation by the news agency found that he was killed by Israel.
Amnesty International said there should be an investigation into that killing because six other journalists were wounded. They were on a hill close to the border, clearly marked and visible as journalists. But such international investigations have not taken place. The feeling here among journalists is that there has been no accountability and justice.
In November last year, two journalists working for Al Mayadeen channel were also killed. The night before the attack on Hasbaiyya, the office of Al Mayadeen was hit in an Israeli strike in the heart of Beirut. That office was evacuated, but it was seen as a message to journalists and the media that Israel is expanding its targets.
