Lebanon is accusing Israel of turning the killing of journalists into a method of war. Amal Khalil, a 43-year-old reporter for the Lebanese daily al-Akhbar, was buried Thursday after what officials and press groups say was a “double-tap” airstrike by Israeli forces near the southern village of al-Tiri, reports the Guardian. According to Lebanese authorities and the journalist’s employer, an initial strike hit a vehicle in front of Khalil’s car, killing two people and wounding her and freelance photographer Zeinab Faraj. Khalil then phoned her office, saying she was sheltering in a nearby house and under threat. That house was later bombed in a second strike, and rescuers trying to reach her said they came under Israeli fire and were repeatedly blocked from reaching the site.
The AP notes that Khalil had been reporting on the region for the newspaper for the past two decades, with the New York Times adding that she was known for “her intrepidity and her resolve.” “You couldn’t ask Amal to be careful,” her brother says. “This is the only time I know Amal’s address: She’s in the grave.” Lebanon’s president, Joseph Aoun, accused Israel of “deliberate and consistent targeting of journalists” and said such attacks amount to crimes against humanity, per the Guardian. Prime Minister Nawaf Salam called the killing a war crime and said Lebanon will pursue the case in international venues.
Meanwhile, press freedom groups, including Reporters Without Borders and the Committee to Protect Journalists, said the repeated strikes and obstruction of medical teams appeared to be a deliberate attack on media workers and a serious violation of international humanitarian law. An Israel Defense Forces statement said two vehicles had left what it described as a Hezbollah military site and that one posed an “immediate threat” after crossing a defensive line, but it provided no evidence and didn’t address claims that Khalil and Faraj were clearly marked as press.
Ophir Falk, a foreign affairs adviser to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, told the BBC that Israel “never targets civilians” and “never targets journalists,” while struggling to account for the high number of media workers killed. Israel also denies blocking rescue workers. Khalil is the ninth journalist killed in Lebanon this year; three others died in a similar “double-tap” incident in March.