Russia Today reporter Steve Sweeney and his cameraman Ali Rida were injured by shrapnel from the attack, but both are reported to be conscious and in hospital.
Sweeney – who is based in Beirut – told his editor that “an IDF plane fired upon the car” the pair were using.
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Footage shows Sweeney filming a report before spotting a strike headed towards the two. He then ducks and an explosion is seen behind him.
The moment Israel targeted British journalist Steve Sweeney in southern Lebanon.pic.twitter.com/sbxhDAK5fI
— Lowkey (@Lowkey0nline) March 19, 2026
Margarita Simonyan, the editor-in-chief of state of Russian media outlet RT, wrote on Twitter/X: “Our correspondent Steve Sweeney has been wounded by an Israeli strike in Lebanon.
“He says an IDF plane fired upon the car carrying Steve and his cameraman, as they were crossing a bridge in the south of the country.
“Both men are conscious in hospital, doctors are diagnosing extent of shrapnel damage. War journalists are not legitimate targets.
“We pray for them.”
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Novara co-founder and political commentator Aaron Bastani reacted to the video writing: “The only explanation was they were trying to kill a journalist. There’s nothing else there.
“Hundreds have been killed by Israel in the last several years.”
More journalists and media workers were killed in 2025 than in any other year since the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) began collecting data more than three decades ago, with 2025 the second consecutive year-on-year record for press deaths.
Israel was responsible for two-thirds of all press killings in both 2025 and 2024, and the IDF has committed more targeted killings of journalists than any other government’s military since CPJ began documentation in 1992.