In Lebanon, a reporter for the pro-Hezbollah daily Al-Akhbar, Amal Khalil, was killed Tuesday in an Israeli strike, despite an ongoing truce. Beirut denounces a violation of international law and calls for the extension of the ceasefire. RSF requested an emergency operation on Tuesday to rescue the journalist stranded following an Israeli strike near her vehicle.

Published on: 04/23/2026 - 11:14 Modified on: 04/23/2026 - 21:14

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The Israeli army killed a Lebanese journalist in the south of the country on Wednesday April 22, while a truce is in progress. A ceasefire for which Beirut will request an extension for a month during talks scheduled for Thursday between the two countries in Washington.

Before the announcement of Amal Khalil's death, the official Lebanese news agency, Ani, reported four people killed by Israeli strikes in the east and south of the country.

Amal Khalil was covering the conflict in the southern Lebanese town of al-Tiri with a colleague, Zeinab Faraj, who was injured. The journalist was "killed following an Israeli airstrike", according to Civil Defense and her employer, the pro-Hezbollah Lebanese newspaper Al-Akhbar.

Teams carrying out searches with the Lebanese army and the Red Cross "managed to recover the body of martyred journalist Amal Khalil", added the Civil Defense press office.

The two journalists had taken refuge in a house in the village of al-Tiri, after an Israeli strike targeted a car in front of them, according to the National News Agency (official Ani). The two occupants of the vehicle, the mayor of the neighboring town of Bint Jbeil, occupied by Israel, and a man who accompanied him, were killed, the same source said.

An Israeli strike then targeted the house where the two journalists had taken refuge. Emergency services initially evacuated the injured journalist, before "Israeli fire targeted the ambulance", according to the Ministry of Health.

Rescue operation prevented by Israeli strikes

The Lebanese authorities had to contact the peacekeepers deployed in southern Lebanon and it took several hours before rescuers were able to access the area again to remove the body of the other journalist from the rubble.

The Health Ministry on Thursday accused Israel of having "impeded rescue operations" and "targeted an ambulance clearly bearing the sign of the Red Cross".

The Israeli army, for its part, claimed to have struck a vehicle leaving a Hezbollah “military structure” in the al-Tiri sector, “after having identified individuals violating the ceasefire arrangements”, then to have struck the “structure”.

Israel says it has drawn a "yellow line", or forward defense line in depth, in southern Lebanon, where its troops entered, and prohibits residents from returning there.

Reporters Without Borders (RSF) alerted international opinion on Tuesday to the situation of Amal Khalil, calling for "urgent pressure on the Israeli army so that it authorizes the rescue of the Lebanese journalist."

“Amal Khalil, currently stranded near Tayri, in the south of the country, following an Israeli strike near her vehicle. Her life is in danger at this very moment! The continuation of Israeli strikes is preventing help from reaching her,” wrote RSF on X.

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“It took several hours of coordination for the Red Cross to have authorization to come to his aid... on Lebanese territory. And even after this agreement, the road leading to the village was hit,” wrote on Instagram journalist Arthur Sarradin, Lebanon correspondent for the French daily Libération, the Radio France group, and the French news channel LCI.

“A flagrant violation of international humanitarian law”, denounces Lebanon

The Lebanese Minister of Information, Paul Morcos, expressed on X his “deep sadness” for the death of this journalist, “targeted by the Israeli army while she was carrying out her professional duty”.

“The targeting of journalists is a serious crime and a flagrant violation of international humanitarian law, in the face of which we will not remain silent,” he added, on the eve of the new session of discussions planned between the two countries, at ambassadorial level, under the aegis of the United States.

The President of Lebanon, Joseph Aoun, also offered his condolences on X to the journalist's family. He denounced "crimes against humanity punishable under international laws and conventions", believing that Israel was "deliberately and systematically targeting journalists" in order to "conceal the truth about its acts of aggression against Lebanon".

According to the Order of Editors, 27 journalists have been killed in Israeli strikes since the start of the conflict in October 2023. “We advise journalists to coordinate with the army and legitimate security forces in areas exposed to attacks from the (Israeli) occupation, as well as UNIFIL and the Lebanese Red Cross, in order to avoid any deadly adventure,” indicates the association of Lebanese journalists in a press release cited by L’Orient le day.

Read alsoLebanon-Israel: the agreement of May 17, 1983, a precedent which hangs over the negotiations

In 2023 and 2024, seven journalists were killed in Lebanon by Israeli forces as part of their work, recorded RSF, which calls for the protection of media professionals.

“Under the bombs and with increasingly restricted access to the ground. Journalists in Lebanon carry out their profession in an increasingly difficult context since the Israeli army intensified its offensive, following missile attacks perpetrated by the pro-Iranian armed group Hezbollah, and against the backdrop of an Israeli-American attack in Iran,” the NGO wrote in March.

The strikes launched by Israel on Lebanon since March 2 have left 2,454 dead and more than a million displaced, according to the latest official report.

With AFP

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