Israeli airstrike on south Lebanon kills 2 journalists of a pan-Arab TV station, official says

BEIRUT (AP) — An Israeli strike on southern Lebanon killed Tuesday two journalists reporting for the Beirut-based Al-Mayadeen TV on the violence along the border with Israel, according to the Lebanese information minister and their TV station.

The strike also killed a Lebanese civilian, said the station.

The Pan-Arab Al-Mayadeen TV — politically allied with the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah — identified the journalists as correspondent Farah Omar and cameraman Rabih Maamari saying they were “martyred by treacherous Israeli targeting,” adding it was an airstrike.

“It was direct targeting. It was not a coincidence,” said Ghassan bin Jiddo, director of the TV channel, holding back his tears in a live broadcast. They join “the martyrs of Gaza,” he said

Bin Jiddo said a man from the village, whom he identified as Hussein Akil, was also killed.

Last week, the Israeli government blocked Al-Mayadeen TV news channel from broadcasting in Israel.

Lebanese Information Minister Ziad Makary called the strike on the journalists “outrageous.”

The Israeli military said it was looking into the matter.

Local media reported several Israeli strikes on South Lebanon Tuesday.

Lebanese State-run National News Agency said Israel’s military struck the outskirts of the villages of Teir Harfa and Majdal Zoun in South Lebanon. It also reported that another strike on a home in the border village of Kfar Kila killed a woman, Laiqa Serhan, 80, and wounded her granddaughter who was taken to hospital for treatment.

Israeli shelling on southern Lebanon on Oct. 14, killed Reuters videojournalist Issam Abduallah and wounded other journalists from France’s international news agency, Agence France-Presse, and Qatar’s Al-Jazeera TV.

The Lebanon-Israel border has been witnessing daily exchange of fire between members of the militant Hezbollah group and Israeli troops. The clashes began a day after the Palestinian militant Hamas group carried out a deadly attack on southern Israel on Oct. 7, killing about 1,200 people and taking more than 240 hostages.

Israel has since carried out a wide-scale military campaign in the Gaza Strip killing more than 12,700 people.