Human Rights Watch said an Israeli airstrike that killed Lebanese journalist Amal Khalil and wounded camerawoman Zainab Faraj in southern Lebanon earlier this year was deliberate and constituted a war crime. Khalil, a journalist for Lebanese outlet Al Akhbar, was killed on April 22 while reporting on Israeli aggression in the southern town of At-Tiri.
The rights group said evidence, including requests from the United Nations mission in Lebanon and the Red Cross, indicated that Israeli forces knew journalists were inside the building they struck. HRW said Khalil was killed in the attack and Faraj was wounded.
HRW also said Israeli forces prevented rescue teams from reaching the journalists’ location, when Khalil was likely still alive. In a statement, HRW’s Ramzi Kaiss said the information gathered clearly showed that the Israeli military knew, or should have known, that Faraj and Khalil were civilians. He said they were nevertheless attacked and paramedics were blocked from rescuing them for hours.