Overview
- Amal Khalil was killed Thursday in southern Lebanon after a first strike on a nearby vehicle and a second hit on the house where she and photographer Zeinab Faraj took shelter.
- Rescue teams reported hours of blocked access and fire toward ambulances, and they said Faraj was evacuated later with a head wound as Khalil’s body was recovered after a delay.
- The Israel Defense Forces said it does not target journalists and said the operation focused on vehicles linked to Hezbollah.
- Lebanese President Joseph Aoun and Prime Minister Nawaf Salam condemned the killing and urged international action, while the Committee to Protect Journalists called repeat strikes and blocked medical access grave violations of humanitarian law.
- Khalil, a reporter for the newspaper al-Akhbar, was reported to be wearing a vest and helmet marked PRESS, a detail cited by critics who dispute claims of misidentification.