[1/5]Ambulances carrying the bodies of the two journalists from the Lebanon-based Al Mayadeen television station, who were allegedly killed in an Israeli attack, are parked in front of the station’s building in Beirut, Lebanon, on November 21, 2023. Portal/Mohamed Azakir acquires license rights
BEIRUT, Nov 21 (Portal) – Separate Israeli strikes in southern Lebanon on Tuesday killed eight people, including two journalists working for a Lebanese television channel and a senior Hamas official, according to Lebanese state media and official sources.
The death toll in Lebanon since hostilities began along the border stands at more than 80 people, mostly fighters from the Lebanese armed group Hezbollah.
Violence erupted along the border following the Hamas attack on October 7. Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah – a Hamas ally – have exchanged rocket fire in fighting that has steadily escalated.
Lebanese broadcaster Al Mayadeen said an Israeli attack on Tuesday near the town of Tir Harfa, about a mile from the Israeli border, killed two of its journalists and a third person at the scene of the shooting.
Al Mayadeen accused Israel of targeting the television crew because of the channel’s reputation as a pro-Palestinian and pro-Iranian regional military alliance.
Lebanon’s caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati said in a statement that the attack was an Israeli attempt to silence the media, adding that “there are no limits to Israeli crimes.”
The Israeli military said it was “aware of a claim about journalists killed by Israeli army fire.”
“This is an area of active hostilities where exchanges of fire are occurring. Presence in the area is dangerous,” it said.
The Israeli military has previously said it cannot guarantee the safety of journalists in the areas where it is fighting. Israeli authorities have attempted to block Al Mayadeen’s websites and seize devices associated with the channel.
Hezbollah said it retaliated for the killing of the journalists by firing on an Israeli base across the border.
Another Israeli attack on a car about seven miles (11 km) from the border and near the southern city of Tire killed four people later in the day, Lebanese state media reported.
Hamas identified one victim as one of its members and said he was killed “doing his duty” in southern Lebanon. Two Palestinian sources said he was a senior member of Hamas’ armed wing in Lebanon.
An elderly woman was also killed in an Israeli attack on Tuesday morning, according to Lebanese state media.
Violence on the border between Israel and Lebanon has escalated in recent days, raising fears of a widening war in the Middle East that could involve both the United States and Iran.
It is the worst violence on the border since the 2006 war between Israel and Hezbollah and has so far killed more than 70 Hezbollah fighters, 13 Lebanese civilians, seven Israeli soldiers and three Israeli civilians.
Tuesday’s deaths bring by more than 50 the number of journalists killed covering the war between Israel and Hamas and its spread to other parts of the region since October 7, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists.
Portal Visuals journalist Issam Abdallah was killed in southern Lebanon on October 13.
Al Mayadeen named correspondent Farah Omar and cameraman Rabie al-Memari as its killed journalists. The third person killed was Hussein Aqil. Al Mayadeen told Portal he was not working with the broadcaster.
Reporting by John Davison, Jana Choukeir and Maya Gebeily; Editing by Alex Richardson, Nick Macfie and Alistair Bell
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