BEIRUT: An Israeli strike killed three journalists in south Lebanon on Saturday, their channels and a Lebanese military source said, while Israel alleged one of them was a Hezbollah member.

The killings came as Israel continued its raids on southern Lebanon and Hezbollah announced it had targeted Israeli forces that had entered border villages.

Israel has carried out large-scale air strikes across Lebanon and a ground offensive in the south.

According to a Lebanese military source, Ali Shoeib of Hezbollah’s Al Manar channel and Fatima Ftouni of Al Mayadeen, were killed in Jezzine, alongside Ftouni’s brother, a cameraman.

The two channels confirmed the deaths of their journalists. Shoeib was one of Al Manar’s most prominent war correspondents, having covered Israeli attacks on Lebanon for decades.

Hezbollah reports clashing with Israeli forces after they intruded into border villages

In a statement, the Israeli military accused Shoeib of being “in the intelligence unit of Hezbollah’s Radwan Force”.

‘Blatant crime’

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun condemned the killings, calling them “a blatant crime that violates all norms and treaties under which journalists enjoy international protection in wars”.

Prime Minister Nawaf Salam said the targeting of journalists was “a flagrant violation of international humanitarian law”.

Several journalists have been killed in southern Lebanon since the start of the previous round of hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah in 2023.

A strike on central Beirut earlier this month killed Mohammad Sherri, Al Manar’s political programmes director.

In Oct 2024, three journalists ‑ including a cameraman for Al Manar and a cameraman and broadcast engineer for Al Mayadeen ‑ were killed in an Israeli air strike that targeted the place they were sleeping in.

Farah Omar, an Al Mayadeen correspondent, cameraman Rabih Maamari and fixer Hussein Aqil were killed while on assignment in the south in Nov 2023.

In October of that year, Reuters journalist Issam Abdallah was killed and six others wounded while covering the conflict near the Israeli border.

An independent investigation concluded that two Israeli 120mm tank shells were fired from the Jordeikh area inside Israel.

The findings were corroborated by other international probes, including those by Reuters, the Committee to Protect Journalists, Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International and Reporters Without Borders.

Strikes on south

Israel launched a fresh series of raids on southern Lebanon on Saturday.

Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency reported “a series of strikes” at dawn on southern towns and villages.

It said several Israeli strikes also targeted the city of Nabatiyeh, hitting “residential and commercial buildings and a fuel station”.

At the same time, the agency reported strikes on border towns, particularly Taybeh, along with “an attempt by enemy forces to advance toward the Litani area”.

The Israeli military said “at this time, we continue to strike Hezbollah infrastructure across Lebanon”.

Hezbollah, for its part, said in separate statements that it had targeted gatherings of Israeli forces in Debel, a predominantly Christian border town where some residents remain despite the fighting.

Israeli forces have been pushing into areas near the border in southern Lebanon, where Israeli officials have announced plans to establish a buffer zone up to the Litani River, around 30 kilometres north of the border.

Published in Dawn, March 29th, 2026