Three Lebanese journalists killed in Israeli strike in southern Lebanon
Hundreds gathered Saturday for funerals of Ali Shoeib, Fatima Ftouni and cameraman Mohammed Ftouni, killed in Jezzine.
1:12 PM
Three Lebanese journalists were killed in an Israeli strike in the town of Jezzine in southern Lebanon on Saturday, according to their employers and Lebanese officials.
Ali Shoeib, a correspondent for Al Manar, a television network owned by Hezbollah, was struck in his car just before noon local time. Fatima Ftouni, a reporter for Al Mayadeen, and her brother Mohammed Ftouni, a cameraman also working for Al Mayadeen, were killed in the same strike.
The Israel Defense Forces confirmed it had killed Shoeib, describing him as a "terrorist" from Hezbollah's elite Radwan Force who had "operated for years under the guise of a journalist." The IDF said he had worked to "expose the locations of IDF soldiers operating in southern Lebanon and along the border," including during the current fighting. The military did not provide evidence to support its characterization of Shoeib's role. The IDF has not offered comment on the killings of Fatima and Mohammed Ftouni.
Fatima Ftouni had conducted a live report from southern Lebanon just before the strike occurred. Al Manar described Shoeib as an "icon of resistance reporting," while Al Mayadeen said Ftouni had been distinguished by her brave and objective reporting.
Hundreds of mourners gathered in Beirut's southern suburbs on Saturday for the funerals of the three journalists. The funeral took place in pouring rain, with some mourners holding aloft posters of the two well-known war correspondents, displaying cameras and press body armor. A number of women were observed sobbing at the ceremony.
Lebanese authorities have condemned the attack. Elsy Moufarrej of the Union of Journalists in Lebanon described the killings as a war crime, drawing comparisons to journalist deaths in Gaza. "We've seen this in Gaza where they tried to undermine Palestinian journalists by linking them to Hamas," Moufarrej said. "Now they're trying to do the same to Lebanese journalists by linking them to Hezbollah. Let's be in no doubt. This is a war crime."
The strike raised questions about the scope of Israel's targets in the region. Lebanon's president and rights groups have also condemned the attack.