By Maya Gebeily
BEIRUT, April 22 (Reuters) – Israeli strikes on southern Lebanon on Wednesday killed Lebanese journalist Amal Khalil and wounded a photographer accompanying her, according to a senior Lebanese military official and Khalil’s employer, the Al-Akhbar newspaper.
There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military on Khalil’s death. Earlier, the Israeli military said in a statement it had received reports that two journalists were injured as a result of its strikes.
The death of Khalil, 43, brought the death toll on Wednesday to five people. It was the deadliest day since a 10-day ceasefire was announced on April 16 to halt hostilities between Israel and Lebanese armed group Hezbollah.
Khalil and freelance photographer Zeinab Faraj were covering developments near the town of al-Tayri when an Israeli strike hit the vehicle in front of them. They ran into a nearby house, which was then also targeted by an Israeli strike, Lebanon’s health ministry, the senior Lebanese military official and press advocates said.
Lebanese rescuers were able to retrieve Faraj, who had suffered a head wound, according to Elsy Moufarrej, who runs the Union of Journalists in Lebanon.
When rescuers returned to help Khalil, the Israeli military dropped a sound grenade, blocking their access to the damaged building, Moufarrej and the senior military official said.
Lebanon’s Prime Minister Nawaf Salam said the targeting of journalists and the obstruction of relief efforts constituted “war crimes.”
“Lebanon will spare no effort in pursuing these crimes before the relevant international bodies,” he said on X.
The health ministry said Israel’s military “prevented the completion of the humanitarian mission by firing a sound grenade and live ammunition at the ambulance.”
Rescuers were able to return to the site about four hours after the initial strike. After another three hours of searching through the rubble, they were able to retrieve her lifeless body, the senior military official said.
Al-Akhbar announced her death on its website.
In its earlier statement, the Israeli military denied it prevented rescue teams from reaching the area.
ISRAEL SAYS CARS ENTERED BUFFER ZONE
Two people were killed in the first strike on the car, Lebanese state media reported. Reuters could not immediately confirm the identities of the two people killed.
The Israeli military said it identified two vehicles that left a military structure used by Lebanese armed group Hezbollah and crossed the “forward defense line,” the term Israel’s military uses to refer to the delineation of the zone of southern Lebanon that Israeli troops are occupying.
It said the cars “approached the troops in a manner that posed an immediate threat to their safety” and that it struck one of the vehicles, then a nearby building. The Israeli military said it does not target journalists.
In March, an Israeli airstrike killed three journalists in southern Lebanon, with the Israeli military saying it had targeted one of the reporters.
More than 2,400 people have been killed in Lebanon since Israel launched an offensive in response to Hezbollah’s March 2 attack, according to Lebanese authorities.
Israel has seized a belt of territory at the border where its troops remain, saying it aims to create a buffer zone to shield northern Israel from attacks by Hezbollah, which fired hundreds of rockets at Israel during the conflict.
(Reporting by Maya Gebeily; Additional reporting by Steven Scheer in Jerusalem; Editing by Alex Richardson, Daniel Wallis and Nia Williams)
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