Lebanon’s president condemns ‘blatant crime’, as Israeli assaults kill extra journalists
Printed On 28 Mar 2026
Three Lebanese journalists have been killed in an Israeli air strike on their clearly marked press automobile in southern Lebanon.
Different journalists have been wounded within the assault, and one paramedic was killed.
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Fatima Ftouni and her brother and colleague, Mohammed, of Al Mayadeen and Al-Manar’s Ali Shuaib have been killed on Saturday on the Jezzine Highway when, in accordance with Al Mayadeen, 4 precision missiles hit the automobile.
When ambulances arrived, paramedics have been additionally reportedly focused, killing one. Al Mayadeen and Al-Manar have confirmed the deaths of their journalists.
The Israeli navy acknowledged the strike, claiming Shuaib was embedded inside a Hezbollah intelligence unit and had been monitoring Israeli troop positions in southern Lebanon. It additionally alleged he had been distributing Hezbollah propaganda.
Al-Manar, his employer, described him as one among its most outstanding struggle correspondents, having coated Israeli assaults on Lebanon for many years.
Israel, which has killed greater than 270 journalists in Gaza, typically alleges that the reporters it targets are members of or are linked to armed teams with out offering proof.
Neither community accepted Israel’s characterisation.
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun stated Israel had as soon as once more violated “probably the most fundamental guidelines of worldwide legislation” by concentrating on civilians finishing up their skilled responsibility.
Citing the 1949 Geneva Conventions and UN Safety Council Decision 1738, he known as it “a blatant crime that violates all norms and treaties underneath which journalists are granted worldwide safety throughout armed conflicts”.
Prime Minister Nawaf Salam decried the assault as “a flagrant violation of worldwide humanitarian legislation”.
Six Al Mayadeen journalists killed in weeks
For Ftouni, the struggle had already struck near house. Earlier this month, her uncle and his household have been killed in an Israeli strike, a loss she had reported on stay tv.
Al Mayadeen has now misplaced six journalists since hostilities started. Farah Omar, Rabih Me’mari, Ghassan Najjar and Mohammad Reda have been killed in earlier assaults.
Lebanon’s Ministry of Well being said 1,142 folks have been killed and greater than 3,300 injured in Israeli assaults since March 2 amid the quickly widening regional conflict now coming into a fourth week.
Israeli troops have pushed additional into the south, advancing in direction of the Litani River. Hezbollah has claimed dozens of operations towards Israeli forces previously 24 hours.
An Israeli air raid within the southern Lebanese city of Deir al-Zahrani killed one Lebanese soldier, Lebanon’s Nationwide Information company reported.
Saturday’s killings match a sample that press freedom organisations have been monitoring with alarm.
The Committee to Protect Journalists recorded a worldwide excessive of 129 journalists killed in 2025, probably the most because it started accumulating information over three a long time in the past, with Israel liable for two-thirds of these deaths.
It has now killed extra journalists than every other nation in CPJ’s recorded historical past.
A separate assault earlier this month killed Al-Manar’s political programmes director, Mohammad Sherri, in central Beirut.
