Three journalists were killed in an Israeli airstrike on a building believed to house journalists in southeastern Lebanon, witnesses told the BBC.
The attack took place at a guesthouse in a building in Hasbaya used by more than a dozen journalists from at least seven media organizations. There was a vehicle in the courtyard clearly marked “press”.
The three worked for broadcasters Al-Manar TV and Al Mayadeen TV, which issued a statement commemorating the slain employees.
Lebanon’s Information Minister said the attack was intentional and described it as a “war crime.”
The Israeli military has not yet commented but has previously denied targeting journalists.
The dead were camera operator Ghassan Najjar, engineer Mohamed Reda of the pro-Iranian news channel Al Mayadeen, and camera operator Wissam Qassem of the Hezbollah affiliate Al-Manar.
Lebanon’s Health Ministry said three other people were injured in the explosion.
Five journalists, including Reuters reporter Issam Abdallah, were killed when Israel attacked Lebanon.
Footage broadcast by Al Jadid TV, which shared the home with reporters, showed a bombed building with its roof collapsed and the floor covered in rubble.
A vehicle used for TV broadcasts flipped on its side and cables near the satellite dish were mangled.
“All official parties have been told that this house is being used as accommodation for journalists. We have coordinated with all of them,” Al Jadid, a reporter covered in concrete dust, said on live television, gasping and coughing.
Lebanese journalists covering the conflict in the south have been forced to move from nearby Marj’youn to Hasbaya because the former has become too dangerous.
Youmna Fawwaz, a journalist at MTV Lebanon, told the BBC that journalists in the building were awakened by the strike at approximately 03:00 local time (BST).
She said the ceiling had collapsed, she was surrounded by debris and dust, and she could hear fighter jets overhead.
She said each news organization had its own building on the premises, and the building housing Al Mayadeen reporters was “cleared” while Al Manar staff were inside.
Mr. Fawwaz said it was a media company known to both Israel and Hezbollah.
“The raid was deliberate. Everyone knew we were there. All the vehicles were labeled press and TV. We weren’t even warned.”
She added: “They are trying to terrorize us like they did in Gaza. The Israelis are trying to prevent us from covering the story.”
Lebanon’s Information Minister accused Israel of deliberately targeting journalists in violation of international law.
“Israel’s enemies waited for the journalists’ night break to betray them while they were asleep,” Ziad Makary wrote in an article on X.
“Because 18 journalists representing 7 media organizations were at the scene, it was an assassination that was planned and planned in advance and was monitored and tracked.”
Hasbaya, about 8km from the Israeli border, is home to Muslims, Christians, Druze and religious minorities.
There have been attacks on surrounding areas in recent weeks, but this was the first attack on the settlement itself.
The attack came as part of the escalating conflict in Lebanon, where Israel has stepped up airstrikes for weeks and launched ground incursions into border towns and villages in the south.
On Friday, UN peacekeepers said they had been forced to withdraw from an observation post in the southwestern town of Jahajra after it came under attack by Israeli forces earlier this week.
Unifil has accused Israel of carrying out several attacks on its bases in recent weeks.Injured a peacekeeper. Israel denies this and blames the previous incident on clashes with nearby Hezbollah fighters.
In the northern Bekaa region, Israeli forces confirmed overnight an attack on the Jujieh border crossing between Syria and Lebanon. The Israeli military says Hezbollah and Syrian security forces are using it to smuggle weapons.
Lebanese authorities have recorded more than 1,700 airstrikes across the country in the past three weeks.
Hostilities broke out between Israel and Hezbollah on October 8 last year, the day after Hamas attacked Israel, killing about 1,200 people. Iranian-backed militant groups have since been firing rockets and drones toward Israel in an act of “solidarity” with Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.
The current civil war has killed about 2,600 people in Lebanon, many of them since Israel began escalating its attacks on September 23, according to Lebanon’s Health Ministry.
Hezbollah’s rocket attacks have displaced some 60,000 people in northern Israel, and the Israeli government has declared that its main goal is to return them home.
Satellite images examined by the BBC show that intensified Israeli bombing in southern Lebanon has caused more damage to buildings in two weeks than was caused in a year of cross-border fighting.
Data shows that more than 3,600 buildings were damaged or destroyed in Lebanon between October 2 and 14. This represents approximately 54% of the total damage.
The attack on Lebanese journalists came just days after the Israeli military accused six Al Jazeera journalists working in the northern Gaza Strip of being linked to Hamas and other Palestinian militant groups.
Qatar Broadcasting Corporation denied the claims and said it “strongly condemns” them.
At least 123 Palestinian journalists and journalists have been killed in the Gaza Strip since Israel began its war there last year, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists.
Hamas-run health authorities in Gaza have reported more than 42,000 deaths since then.
Two Israeli journalists also died in the conflict.
Additional reporting by Rawad Salameh
