Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International have called for an independent investigation into an Israeli attack in southern Lebanon that killed Lebanese journalist Amal Khalil and seriously wounded freelance camera operator Zeinab Faraj, saying the strike appeared to be a war crime.
In separate reports, the two human rights organisations said the journalists were targeted on 22 April while reporting in the town of al-Tiri. Khalil, a reporter for the Lebanese newspaper al-Akhbar, died after a sequence of strikes that also injured Faraj and, according to the groups, delayed rescue efforts.
The Israeli military denied targeting the journalists. It told the BBC that three strikes carried out by its forces were aimed at two operatives of the armed group Hezbollah. It said the incident formed “part of a series of events” in which two Hezbollah operatives were killed, and that it “regrets any harm caused to journalists”.
Human Rights Watch and Amnesty said their findings were based on reviews of photo and video evidence from al-Tiri, witness testimony from Faraj and first responders, media reports, and a message sent by the Lebanese Red Cross to the Israeli military. Both groups said the evidence indicated that Israeli forces “knew or should have known” that Khalil and Faraj were civilians.
“The Israeli military says it does not target journalists, but the facts and evidence show that it has repeatedly done so. Amal Khalil and Zeinab Faraj are the latest victims in a long series of such attacks,” said Ramzi Kaiss, Lebanon researcher at Human Rights Watch.
According to Human Rights Watch’s reconstruction, the first Israeli strike hit a car travelling in front of the journalists at about 14:30 local time. The strike killed two men they knew, Ali Bazzi and Mohammed al-Hourani. HRW said Khalil and Faraj then abandoned their own vehicle and sought shelter near a neighbouring building.
The organisation said the journalists called the Lebanese Red Cross for assistance. At 15:00, the UN peacekeeping force in Lebanon, Unifil, sent the Israeli military a request from the Lebanese Red Cross to access the site and rescue them.
Human Rights Watch said a second strike, between 15:21 and 15:42, hit the journalists’ parked car and injured Khalil. She and Faraj then sheltered inside the building, which was destroyed in a third strike at about 16:25.
The rights groups said Israeli quadcopter drones appeared to monitor the two women during the attack. Faraj told Amnesty International that drones came close to the place where they were sheltering.
“The drones got extremely close, coming through the broken roof. Less than a meter away. I was covering my face, thinking of a video I had seen where a drone killed someone like that. I thought it would explode in my face. The drones didn’t carry visible explosives, but they were hovering and provoking fear constantly,” Faraj told Amnesty.
Amnesty said phone records showed Khalil remained in contact with first responders and family members while the attack unfolded. A Lebanese Red Cross team was able to enter al-Tiri after 17:00, according to the rights groups.
Witnesses told Human Rights Watch that when paramedics began rescue efforts, they came under fire from a drone-delivered stun grenade and were forced to withdraw without recovering Khalil. HRW said photographs it reviewed also showed damage to a Lebanese Red Cross ambulance that was consistent with small-arms fire.
Human Rights Watch said a report from Tebnin Governmental Hospital indicated Khalil was most likely still alive when paramedics were forced to leave the site at about 17:53. The hospital report said she died at around 19:00 as a result of cardiac arrest. It also said she had a head injury that caused severe bleeding. Her body was eventually recovered by rescue workers at about 23:00.
The Israeli military said the matter was under internal review. According to the BBC, it did not answer follow-up questions about the purpose of the second and third strikes.
Both rights groups said the case required an independent investigation. They also called on Lebanon to accept the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court.
Deliberate attacks on civilians are prohibited under international humanitarian law. “There can be no justification for targeting civilians who sought shelter in search of safety,” said Heba Morayef, Amnesty International’s Middle East director.
Kaiss said: “Israeli forces’ continued killing of journalists shows a brazen willingness to commit atrocities without any fear of consequences.”
The Committee to Protect Journalists says 27 journalists and media workers have been killed this year, including nine in Lebanon and seven in Israel, the occupied West Bank and Gaza.
