Near the southern Lebanese town of Jezzine, Israeli forces directly and repeatedly attacked a marked press vehicle, killing three journalists and wounding a number of others. The IDF fired four missiles at the vehicle during the attack.
The confirmed fatalities were Fatima Ftouni of al-Mayadeen, Ali Shuaib of al-Manar TV, and Fatima’s brother Mohammed, last name not given, who was working as a cameraman for the press crew.
Paramedics were quick to arrive on the scene, and in keeping with the ongoing tactics they too were attacked by the Israeli forces, with one paramedic having been confirmed killed in the course of the attacks on the ambulances.
Journalist Fatima Ftouni of al-Mayadeen | Image from X
This is not the first time a plainly marked press crew was directly attacked by Israeli forces. Last week, the IDF attacked a press crew with RT, wounding British journalist Steve Sweeney and his cameraman.
The Israeli military confirmed today’s attacks on the press, claiming Shuaib was the target. They accused him of exposing the locations of Israeli troops “under the guise of a journalist.” Shuaib has been a correspondent for al-Manar TV for decades, and the news outlet described him as one of their “most prominent” reporters.
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun condemned the attacks as blatant crime and a violation of international and humanitarian law, as journalists are meant to enjoy international protection “even in war.”
Ftouni is the sixth al-Mayadeen reporter to have been killed by Israeli in the past few weeks. The Lebanese Health Ministry has reported Israel to have killed 1,142 people and wounded over 3,300 others since their latest invasion of Lebanese began earlier this month.
