Lebanese PM accuses Israel of war crimes after strike kills journalist

(CNN) — Lebanon’s prime minister has accused Israel of war crimes after an airstrike in the south of the country on Wednesday killed one journalist and seriously wounded another.

Amal Khalil, who worked for Lebanon’s Al Akhbar newspaper, was killed while carrying out her journalistic work, according to Lebanon’s National News Agency (NNA). She is the fourth media worker slain by Israel in Lebanon since March. The other journalist was identified by Lebanese authorities as Zeinab Faraj, a freelance photojournalist. Al Akhbar is a left-leaning, pro-Hezbollah newspaper.

The two journalists had taken shelter during a series of strikes in the town of Tayri in southern Lebanon when the building they were in was hit.

Lebanese authorities also accused Israeli forces of trying to prevent emergency workers from rescuing them, with Red Cross workers taking Faraj to a hospital under “hostile gunfire,” according to NNA.

The strikes also killed several other people, NNA reported.

“Targeting journalists and obstructing the access of rescue teams to them, and then the renewed targeting of those teams after they’d arrived, constitute described war crimes,” Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam posted to X.

He said Israeli attacks on media workers were no longer “isolated incidents” but “an established method which we condemn.”

The Israeli military acknowledged that two journalists had been injured as a result of the strikes but said it “does not target journalists and acts to mitigate harm to them while maintaining the safety and security of its troops.”

It insisted it had not prevented teams from accessing the area and said that details surrounding the incident were under review.

It said its forces in southern Lebanon had seen two vehicles coming from a “military structure” it says was used by Hezbollah. It said the “terrorists” in the vehicles approached the forces in a threatening manner. The military then attacked one of the vehicles and a building from which the individuals had fled.

CNN cannot independently verify either the Lebanese or Israeli accounts.

The airstrikes occurred during a fragile ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon, aimed at pausing fighting with Iran-backed Hezbollah, that has been in place since last Friday.

A second round of direct talks between Israeli and Lebanese officials is scheduled for Thursday in Washington, according to an Israeli official and a State Department official.

‘She loved the people’

Israel’s attacks on Wednesday prompted an outcry from groups including the United Nations and the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ).

Khalil was trapped alive under rubble for hours, having made a phone call to her family and the Lebanese military for help, Qudah told CNN on Thursday.

“The Red Cross was blocked for seven hours and when they reached her after seven hours, she was already dead,” she said. “This kind of obstruction of rescue efforts may really amount to war crime.”

According to the CPJ Israel was responsible for two-thirds of all journalist and media worker killings in 2025.

Earlier this month, UN experts called for an international independent investigation after the Israeli military killed three reporters in Lebanon, including one who worked for a Hezbollah-run broadcaster.

Last week, US President Donald Trump ordered a 10-day ceasefire in Lebanon that took effect at 5 p.m. ET on April 16, following a deadly exchange of fire that had intensified since early March.

Since then, the Israeli military has killed at least six people in Lebanon not including Khalil, according to a CNN tally of figures reported by NNA. Two Israeli soldiers have also been killed in southern Lebanon, according to the Israeli military.

One friend described Khalil as a passionate person who “loved the people” of Lebanon.

“She had a sweet heart, she loved the people and loved the animals,” Mohammed Habli, a 20-year-old animal rescuer, told CNN in a voice note on Thursday.

“We used to rescue animals together,” said Habli, a resident in the coastal city of Sidon. “Ever since the war started, I hadn’t seen Amal. But we used to speak.”

“Amal was like a mother to me,” he added. “I feel like I’m dreaming and I will wake up… How did Amal leave me? How did she leave the people who love her?”

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CNN’s Hira Humayun and Sarah Tamimi contributed to this report.