Israeli airstrike in southern Lebanon kills two journalists, two civilians
An Israeli airstrike in southern Lebanon has left four people dead, including two Lebanese journalists, amid intensified border clashes following the regime’s onslaught on the Gaza Strip.
Lebanon’s al-Mayadeen news channel reported on Tuesday that the Israeli regime has “deliberately” targeted two of its TV crew near the town of Tir Harfa, about a mile from the southern border.
Al-Mayadeen identified the victims as Farah Omar, a correspondent, and Rabie al-Memari, a camera operator, who were reporting on the violence along the border with Israel.
Ghassan bin Jiddo, director of the Beirut-based TV channel said in a live broadcast “It was direct targeting. It was not a coincidence,” adding that they join “the martyrs of Gaza.”
Jiddo also noted that Hussein Akel, a civilian from the village who was with the journalists was also killed in the strike, adding that he was a "contributor" to the channel.
The Lebanese information minister called the strike on the journalists “outrageous.”
Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati also blamed Israel, saying the strike was an Israeli attempt to silence the media.
Lebanon’s resistance movement Hezbollah's media relations department also vowed that the attack against journalists and other citizens "will not go unpunished."
Earlier in the day, the official National News Agency (NNA) also reported that an elderly woman was killed and her granddaughter wounded by an Israeli attack on south Lebanon's Kfar Kila.
"Enemy aircraft raided inhabited houses in Kfar Kila, leading to the death of citizen Laiqa Sarhan, 80, and the wounding of her granddaughter," the NNA said.
The latest development comes as fighting in southern Lebanon following the Israeli bombardment of Gaza has intensified, leaving at least 92 dead, mostly Hezbollah fighters, but also at least ten civilians.
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