Israel’s killing of a prominent Lebanese journalist in a double-tap strike has been greeted with international outrage as Lebanon’s prime minister described the attack as a “war crime”.
Amal Khalil, 43, who worked for al-Akhbar newspaper, was buried on Thursday after she was killed in what colleagues described as a sustained attack by Israeli forces. Rescuers attempting to dig her out of the rubble of a building were also targeted and prevented from providing life-saving assistance.
Her death prompted renewed accusations that Israel has a policy of targeting media workers, despite its repeated denials.
Khalil had previously spoken of receiving a threat via an unidentified Israeli phone number that she would be killed if she did not leave southern Lebanon, where she had long been based.
Khalil’s killing was condemned by senior figures from across Lebanese politics even as they prepared for fresh talks in Washington on Thursday aimed at extending a fraught ceasefire with Israel.
Lebanon’s president, Joseph Aoun, said “Israel’s deliberate and consistent targeting of journalists” was “aimed at concealing the truth of its aggressive acts against Lebanon, in addition to constituting crimes against humanity punishable under international laws and conventions”.
Echoing Aoun’s comments, the prime minister, Nawaf Salam, said Israel’s targeting of journalists amounted to war crimes.
“Israel’s targeting of media workers in the south while they carry out their professional duties is no longer isolated incidents, but has become an established approach that we condemn and reject, as do all international laws and conventions,” Salam wrote on social media, emphasising that Lebanon would pursue actions in international forums in response to Israel’s conduct.
Khalil was the ninth journalist killed in Lebanon this year. Last month three journalists were killed in a double-tap attack.
As further details of the killing emerged on Thursday, it became clear that the group Khalil was with came under sustained attack over several hours and that Israeli forces were apparently aware of their identities.
Adding to the sense of horror was the fact that Khalil was trapped for hours in a house that had been bombed by Israeli forces. She died despite frantic efforts by her family, her editors and Aoun to organise a rescue.
According to her employer and the Lebanese health ministry, Khalil was working near the village of al-Tiri when a vehicle she was driving behind was hit by an Israeli airstrike, killing two people and wounding her and her colleague Zeinab Faraj, a freelance photographer.
Colleagues said Khalil and Faraj were bearing protective equipment prominently marked with press signs and that Khalil had managed to call her office to say she was taking cover in a house and was under threat.
The house in which they were sheltering was hit by a second Israeli airstrike. Rescue workers reached the scene and recovered Faraj but Israeli forces fired on those attempting to free Khalil.
The Union of Journalists in Lebanon said that when medics attempted to rescue her, Israeli forces prevented access to the site and used stun grenades. Khalil’s body was eventually retrieved shortly before midnight, at least six hours after the strike.
Israel denied that it targeted journalists or that it had prevented rescue teams from reaching the area, and said the incident was under review. Previous “reviews” have rarely if ever attached any blame to Israeli forces, who typically attempt to suggest killed journalists are members of armed groups.
On Thursday, Ophir Falk, a foreign affairs adviser to the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, told the BBC’s World at One that the incident was under review but struggled to explain why Israel had killed so many journalists if it was not a deliberate policy.
“I can tell you one thing, we’re looking into this incident, but what I can tell you for 100% sure is that Israel never targets civilians. It never targets journalists. To the contrary, we do everything possible to minimise the risk to civilians and to journalists,” said Falk.
In an earlier statement the IDF said it identified two vehicles that had “departed from a military structure used by Hezbollah”, without providing evidence for the claim. It said one of the vehicles approached Israeli troops in a manner that was an “immediate threat” after crossing a “forward defence line”, violating a ceasefire.
In 2024, however, Khalil told local media she had received an Israeli death threat warning her to leave the south and threatening to destroy her home and decapitate her.
Khalil said she had “received a message from an Israeli enemy” urging her to leave the south. “I have informed the relevant authorities about this, as the enemy has recently used this tactic with many others there,” she said.
According to Khalil, the warning – allegedly sent from an Israeli phone number – included details of her recent movements and said: “We know where you are and we will reach you when the time comes.” It was not clear who had sent the message.
Reporters without Borders condemned the latest Israeli killing of a journalist. Clayton Weimer, its executive director, said the IDF received messages from his organisation as well as from journalists, asking that it allow ambulances to get to Khalil.
“The Red Cross signalled they were unable to get through because of ongoing Israeli bombardment. So that is callous disregard, on top of what appears to be a deliberate and targeted killing of a journalist,” Weimer said.
The Committee to Protect Journalists also condemned the attack. “The repeated strikes on the same location, the targeting of an area where journalists were sheltering, and the obstruction of medical and humanitarian access constitute a grave breach of international humanitarian law,” said its regional director Sara Qudah. “CPJ holds Israeli forces responsible for the endangerment of Amal Khalil’s life and the injuries Zeinab Faraj sustained after the targeted strike on their location.”