Iran condemns ‘deliberate' Israeli attack on journalists in Lebanon
Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei has strongly condemned an Israeli airstrike on a “journalist compound” in southeastern Lebanon early Friday, denouncing it as a "deliberate" attack on media personnel.
The Israeli strike in the early hours of Friday targeted guesthouses accommodating at least 18 journalists from six media outlets, including Sky News, Al Jazeera, and various Lebanese broadcasters, in Hasbaya.
The attack killed three media professionals: Ghassan Najjar, a cameraman, and Mohamed Reda, an engineer with Al-Mayadeen television network, as well as cameraman Wissam Qassem, who worked for Al-Manar, according to statements from their respective organizations.
In a post on X, Baghaei said that the attack was “another instance of Israel’s atrocious war crime.”
Tehran slams in "strongest terms" the "deliberate" Israeli attack on journalists, he added.
“The Israeli regime has killed at least 180 journalists in the past year alone,” noted the spokesperson.
Baghaei also highlighted journalists’ protections under International Humanitarian Law (IHL), particularly the 1949 Geneva Conventions and the 1977 Additional Protocols, which safeguard journalists and their equipment as civilian objects during armed conflicts, as long as they are not actively participating in hostilities.
“Journalists and media personnel enjoy full protection under IHL,” he noted, referencing Article 79 of Additional Protocol I, which explicitly covers journalists on dangerous professional missions.
Friday’s attack marked the deadliest day for media personnel since clashes erupted last year between Israel and Lebanon’s Hezbollah resistance movement.
3 journalists were killed and several were injured as a result of the Israeli airstrike on the residence of the press teams in the town of Hasbaya, southern Lebanon. pic.twitter.com/ZQnmxbrzmm
— Palestine Highlights (@PalHighlight) October 25, 2024
Earlier, Lebanese Information Minister Ziad Makary slammed the Israeli aggression, calling it a "war crime."
"The Israeli enemy waited for the journalists' nighttime break to betray them in their sleep. This is an assassination, after monitoring and tracking, with prior planning and design, as there were 18 journalists there representing seven media institutions. This is a war crime," he said.
Lebanon's Prime Minister Najib Mikati said Israel is intentionally targeting journalists in what he called a "war crime".
"The new Israeli aggression targeting journalists" was among the "war crimes committed by the Israeli enemy" he said in a statement, adding the attack was "deliberate" and "aims to terrorize the media to cover up crimes and destruction".
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