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October 25, 2024 | 08:00 pm
TEMPO.CO, Beirut - An Israeli strike killed three journalists in south Lebanon on Friday, Oct. 25, Lebanon's health ministry said, and the UN refugee agency warned that Israeli airstrikes on a border crossing with Syria were hindering refugees attempting to flee the war.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said there was an urgency to get a diplomatic resolution to the conflict, a day after he said Washington did not want to see a protracted campaign in Lebanon by its ally Israel.
Israel launched its major offensive in Lebanon a month ago, saying it was targeting the heavily armed, Iran-backed Hezbollah group to secure the return home of tens of thousands of Israelis evacuated from the north due to cross-border rocket attacks.
The conflict was sparked by the Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2023 attack on Israel and the Israeli offensive it ignited in Gaza, where Palestinian officials said Israeli strikes in Khan Younis had killed at least 38 people since Thursday night.
Beirut authorities say Israel's Lebanon offensive has killed more than 2,500 people and displaced more than 1.2 million people, sparking a humanitarian crisis.
The journalists killed in south Lebanon were camera operator Ghassan Najjar and engineer Mohamed Reda of the pro-Iranian news outlet Al-Mayadeen and camera operator Wissam Qassem, who worked for Hezbollah's Al-Manar, the outlets said in separate statements. Several others were wounded.
They had been staying at guesthouses in Hasbaya when it was hit around 3 a.m. (midnight GMT). The town had not previously been targeted.
Five journalists have been killed in previous Israeli strikes while reporting on the conflict, including Reuters visual journalist Issam Abdallah on Oct. 13, 2023.
"This is a war crime," Lebanese Information Minister Ziad Makary said. At least 18 journalists from six media outlets, including Sky News and Al-Jazeera were using the guesthouses.
"We heard the airplane flying very low - that's what woke us up - and then we heard the two missiles," Muhammad Farhat, a reporter with Lebanese broadcaster Al-Jadeed, said.
He said several bungalows had been damaged. His footage showed overturned and damaged cars, some marked "Press".
There was no immediate comment from Israel, which in general denies deliberately attacking journalists.
BORDER CROSSING STRUCK
Israel has used airstrikes to pound southern Lebanon, the Bekaa Valley and Beirut's southern suburbs, and has also sent ground forces into southern Lebanon against Hezbollah.
The Israeli military said jets had hit Hezbollah targets around the Jousieh border crossing in the northern Bekaa Valley, using what it said were precision munitions to reduce harm to civilians.
It said Hezbollah used the crossing, controlled by the Syrian military, to transfer weapons into Lebanon.
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