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.

Israeli military claims Hezbollah commander killed

The Israeli military said its fighter jets bombed and killed Abbas Adnan Maslam, a commander in Lebanon’s Aitaroun region for Hezbollah’s elite Radwan Force.

“Maslam was responsible for the execution of many shooting plans against [Israeli] forces and against settlements in the north of the country,” it claimed in a post on X. The Lebanese armed group is yet to comment on the alleged killing.

In the same post, the Israeli military claimed over the past day it had attacked about “200 terrorist targets in Lebanon” and eliminated a “number of terrorists” from the ground and air in Gaza.

WHO chief says a third of Lebanon’s health facilities forced to close due to Israel’s war

World Health Organization (WHO) chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has called for the protection of civilians, healthcare workers, and medical facilities, as Israel’s war on Lebanon has forced the closure of more than 100 health centres.

Lebanon’s hospitals and their staff are now “overwhelmed”, Tedros said in a post on social media, noting that one-third of all health facilities in the country have been forced to shut down because of the war.

The WHO is calling for a ceasefire, safe and unhindered humanitarian access to help those affected by war, and the protection of citizens, medical staff and medical centres “in line with international law”, he said.

Humanitarian access remains a challenge in Lebanon: ICRC

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) is one of the largest organisations delivering humanitarian assistance to affected civilians in both Lebanon and the Gaza Strip.

Here are five key concerns ICRC is reporting from the situation in Lebanon amid Israel’s attacks on the country:

Israeli attacks killed 163 rescuers, health workers in Lebanon since last year

Lebanon’s Health Minister said more than 160 rescuers and health workers had been killed in Israeli attacks during more than a year of fighting between Israel and Hezbollah.

“The total number of rescuers and health sector workers killed so far has reached 163, with 272 others wounded,” Firass Abiad told reporters during a news conference detailing “damage caused by Israeli attacks on the health sector in Lebanon”.

Israeli strike puts second Syria crossing out of service: Minister

Lebanon’s Transport Minister said Israeli bombing put a second border crossing between the country and Syria out of service, leaving one official passage between the two nations operational.

“The Qaa crossing has been put out of service after an Israeli strike on Syrian territory, hundreds of metres from Syrian border guards,” Ali Hamieh told the AFP news agency, adding that the strike blocked the passage of vehicles.

Ceasefire is Lebanon’s priority, says PM Mikati

Lebanon’s caretaker PM Mikati says his government’s priority is reaching “a ceasefire and deterring the Israeli aggression”. In a meeting with Blinken, he said there are more than 1.4 million people who have been displaced from the areas that are being attacked by Israel.

“Israel is also violating international law by attacking civilians, journalists and medical staff,” said Mikati in his meeting with Blinken.

“First, what is required is a real commitment from Israel to a ceasefire, because the previous experience regarding the American-French call, supported by the Arabs and the international community, for a ceasefire affected everyone’s credibility.”

He was referring to a proposal for an initial 21-day truce hammered by the two countries but rejected by Israel.

Iran doesn’t want conflict, but readying for war with Israel: Report

The Iranian government is still seeking to avoid a war with Israel, but it is readying itself for all-out conflict as the country awaits Israel’s response to its missile attack earlier this month, The New York Times reports.

“Iran has ordered the armed forces to be prepared for war but also to try to avoid it,” according to the report, which cites four anonymous Iranian officials, including two members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

The sources explained “the scope of any Iranian retaliation … will largely depend on the severity of Israel’s attacks”.

If Israel causes significant damage or casualties, Iran will respond, but if Israel only targets a limited number of military sites and weapons depots, “Iran might well do nothing”.

Tehran writes to UNSC to protest Israel’s killing of Iranian nationals in Lebanon

Iran has strongly condemned the killing of two of its nationals by Israel in Lebanon in a letter sent to the UN Security Council and Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, calling for accountability.

“The Israeli regime has this time targeted two Iranian nationals in Lebanon, committing a clear violation of international law, especially international humanitarian law,” Saeed Iravani, Iran’s UN mission lead, wrote, according to state media.

He wrote that Iranian woman Masoumeh Karbasi and her Lebanese husband were deliberately targeted by a second Israeli missile after surviving an initial strike on October 19 in Beirut, while Iranian medic Dr Ali Heydari was assassinated on October 22, in a clear violation of the Geneva Conventions.

Iran wants the UNSC to “decisively condemn” these actions and make Israel accountable, Iravani wrote, also calling on Guterres to thoroughly document the actions of Israel in Lebanon.

Uncovering Meta’s Gaza censorship

Current and former Meta employees blow the whistle on the company’s mishandling of pro-Palestinian content and retaliation against staff members who speak out. An AJ+ documentary uncovers internal struggles, with testimonies of routine deletion of Palestine-related posts and a deep-seated pro-Israel bias.

How do these policies shape public perception of the Gaza conflict?

Jeremy Loffredo on being jailed by Israel for journalism

US reporter and Grayzone contributor Jeremy Loffredo details the harrowing experience of being arrested, abused, and held in solitary confinement by Israeli authorities, who accused him of "supporting an enemy during wartime" for factual reporting which violated no laws or regulations.

Jordan condemns ‘savage’ Israeli attack in Jabalia camp

Jordan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has condemned what it has labelled as a “savage” Israeli attack on the Jabalia refugee camp.

As we have been reporting, the Israeli military has destroyed at least 10 residential buildings in the Jabalia camp in recent hours, killing and injuring at least 150 people, according to initial estimates.

The Jordanian Foreign Ministry called the attack a “flagrant violation of international law and international humanitarian law, a continuation of the systematic brutal targeting of civilians, and a horrific war crime for which those responsible must be held accountable”, according to the state-run Jordan News Agency.

“Israel continues to commit war crimes and ethnic cleansing, and it doesn’t care about the international will calling for an end to the war and the unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe it is causing,” said Sufyan Qudah, the ministry’s official spokesperson.

Israel must stop ‘ethnic cleansing’

Jordan’s Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi has called for pressure on Israel to end “ethnic cleansing”, in strong remarks as he met US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in London.

Deploring the humanitarian situation in northern Gaza, Safadi told Blinken: “We do see ethnic cleansing taking place, and that has got to stop.”

Blinken said there is an urgency to get to a diplomatic resolution in the ongoing conflict in Lebanon between the Israeli forces and the Hezbollah group.

International tolerance of Israeli slaughter in Gaza has ‘normalised’ attacks on civilians

Save the Children’s Alexandra Saieh, head of humanitarian policy and advocacy, told Al Jazeera that the situation for children in Gaza is now “absolutely catastrophic”.

Reports from Save the Children’s staff on the ground in Gaza recount instances of children who have lost limbs to explosions being treated only with basic pain relief because they have no other medical supplies to treat their wounds, Saieh said.

“No military goal could justify the mass-scale slaughter of civilians that we see in Gaza now every single day,” she said.

“The international community has normalised attacks on schools in Gaza. We are seeing Israeli forces attack schools-turned-shelters in Gaza now on a regular basis. And by the international community refusing to take action, they’ve just normalised this,” Saieh added.

“The situation in Gaza is now more desperate than it ever has been.”

_{Wounded Palestinian children at al-Awda Hospital following an Israeli attack on a school sheltering displaced people in the Nuseirat refugee camp in Deir el-Balah, central Gaza, on Thursday}

‘Darkest moment’ of war unfolding in northern Gaza

UN rights chief Volker Turk said the “darkest moment” of the conflict in Gaza was unfolding in the north of the territory, warning that Israel’s actions could amount to “atrocity crimes”.

“Unimaginably, the situation is getting worse by the day. The Israeli government’s policies and practices in northern Gaza risk emptying the area of all Palestinians. We are facing what could amount to atrocity crimes, including potentially extending to crimes against humanity,” Turk said in a statement.

Israeli military bombs house in Khan Younis, killing 3

The Israeli military has bombed the Farra family home in the Qizan an-Najjar area east of Khan Younis in southern Gaza, killing at least three people and injuring five more, according to Gaza’s civil defence agency.

Children dead after Israeli military bombs Kamal Adwan Hospital

The Israeli military has bombed the “oxygen station” at the Kamal Adwan Hospital in Beit Lahiya, northern Gaza, killing a “number of children”, our Al Jazeera Arabic colleagues report.

Israeli forces raid north Gaza’s Kamal Adwan Hospital: Report

Israeli forces have raided the Kamal Adwan Hospital in Beit Lahiya, northern Gaza, and ordered patients to go down to the main courtyard, the Wafa news agency reports.

The director of Kamal Adwan Hospital has also told Al Jazeera the windows of several patients’ rooms have been shattered as a result of ongoing Israeli bombing around the medical facility.

Earlier, we reported that Israeli tanks had shelled the facility and the military later bombed the “oxygen station” at Kamal Adwan, killing a “number of children”. We are yet to confirm the death toll.