Israel Accused of War Crimes After Killing of Lebanese Journalist Amal Khalil

Israel Accused of War Crimes After Killing of Lebanese Journalist Amal Khalil

Lebanon's prime minister has accused Israel of war crimes following the killing of journalist Amal Khalil in southern Lebanon on Wednesday, April 22, 2026 — an incident that has drawn condemnation from the Lebanese government, international press freedom groups, and the United Nations.

Amal Khalil, who worked for Lebanon's Al Akhbar newspaper, was killed while carrying out her journalistic work, according to Lebanon's National News Agency. She is the fourth media worker slain by Israel in Lebanon since March. The other journalist was identified by Lebanese authorities as Zeinab Faraj, a freelance photojournalist. Faraj survived but was seriously wounded.

Khalil and Faraj were reporting on an earlier Israeli attack on a vehicle on Wednesday when they were targeted while fleeing towards a building to take shelter. Lebanese officials have described what happened next as a "double-tap" strike — a tactic where a second strike hits a location after people have already taken cover, and often after rescue workers have arrived.

The journalist was last heard from at about 4:10pm local time, when she called her family members and the Lebanese military, according to colleagues and media reports. She had taken cover inside the house after an earlier Israeli air raid killed two people near the car in which she was travelling with Faraj.

Rescue workers initially tried to reach the veteran Al Akhbar journalist, but came under Israeli fire and were forced to withdraw, according to Lebanon's Ministry of Public Health. A second strike then hit the house where the two journalists had sought refuge. Khalil's body was recovered shortly before midnight, more than seven hours after the attack.

Lebanese authorities accused Israeli forces of trying to prevent emergency workers from rescuing them, with Red Cross workers taking Faraj to a hospital under "hostile gunfire," according to Lebanon's National News Agency.

Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam did not hold back in his response. "Targeting journalists and obstructing the access of rescue teams to them, and then the renewed targeting of those teams after they'd arrived, constitute described war crimes," Salam posted to X. He said Israeli attacks on media workers were no longer "isolated incidents" but "an established method which we condemn."

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun offered his condolences over Khalil's death and accused Israel of the "deliberate and consistent targeting of journalists" in an effort to "conceal the truth of its aggressive acts against Lebanon." Lebanon's Information Minister Paul Morcos described the attack as a flagrant violation of international humanitarian law and confirmed Khalil was targeted while performing her professional duties.

Israel's military acknowledged that two journalists had been hurt but pushed back on the accusations. The Israeli military acknowledged that two journalists had been injured as a result of the strikes but said it "does not target journalists and acts to mitigate harm to them while maintaining the safety and security of its troops." It insisted it had not prevented teams from accessing the area and said that details surrounding the incident were under review. It said its forces in southern Lebanon had seen two vehicles coming from a "military structure" it says was used by Hezbollah. It said the "terrorists" in the vehicles approached the forces in a threatening manner. The military then attacked one of the vehicles and a building from which the individuals had fled. CNN noted it could not independently verify either the Lebanese or Israeli accounts.

Khalil was not an unknown figure nor a newcomer to the dangers of reporting in conflict zones. Born in 1984 in Baysariyyeh, southern Lebanon, she had covered the region for Al Akhbar since the 2006 war. Her latest reporting focused on Israeli demolitions of homes in villages where Israeli troops are positioned inside Lebanon. In an interview earlier this year, she described the purpose of her work plainly: "I debunk the enemy's narrative of targeting only military sites by showing evidence of them bombing homes, farms, and killing children. Through my work, I have tried to be in solidarity with these people — the people of the land."

Al Jazeera's Heidi Pett, reporting from Tyre, said Khalil had received direct threats during the last war from an Israeli phone number on WhatsApp, warning her to stop reporting. They were "telling her that she should leave Lebanon if she wanted her head to remain on her shoulders," Pett said.

Al Akhbar is a left-leaning, pro-Hezbollah newspaper. Israel has consistently characterised Hezbollah-affiliated media as legitimate military targets, a justification that press freedom organisations reject.

The Committee to Protect Journalists issued a stark statement in response to the killing. "CPJ holds Israeli forces responsible for the endangerment of Amal Khalil's life and the injuries Zeinab Faraj sustained after the targeted strike on their location," said CPJ Regional Director Sara Qudah. According to the CPJ, Israel was responsible for two-thirds of all journalist and media worker killings in 2025. The CPJ also stated in a wider statement that Khalil's killing "must be a wake-up call for the international community to enforce international law, urgently investigate Israel's 262 killings of journalists across the region, and hold all those responsible to account."

This killing is not an isolated incident by the account of multiple observers. Less than a month ago, three journalists were killed in another reported "double-tap" attack in southern Lebanon. Their vehicle was struck, then hit again, while rescue workers who arrived afterwards also came under attack. Following that incident, the Israeli army posted an image alleging one of the journalists was a member of Hezbollah's elite forces, but later acknowledged the photo had been altered.

Earlier this month, UN experts called for an international independent investigation after the Israeli military killed three reporters in Lebanon, including one who worked for a Hezbollah-run broadcaster.

Khalil is the ninth journalist killed in Lebanon this year.

The killings are occurring against the backdrop of a ceasefire that has already shown signs of strain. Last week, US President Donald Trump announced a 10-day ceasefire in Lebanon that took effect at 5 p.m. ET on April 16, following a deadly exchange of fire that had intensified since early March. A second round of direct talks between Israeli and Lebanese officials is scheduled for Thursday in Washington.

As the death toll of journalists in the region continues to climb and accusations of deliberate targeting grow louder, the international community faces mounting pressure to act. For now, Israel has denied the allegations, a ceasefire holds in name if not fully in practice, and another journalist has been buried.

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Sources:

• Sky News: news.sky.com/story/israel-accused-of-war-crimes-after-targeted-killing-of-journalist-13535269
• Al Jazeera: aljazeera.com/news/2026/4/23/what-we-know-about-israel-killing-lebanese-journalist-amal-khalil
• CNN: cnn.com/2026/04/22/middleeast/lebanon-israel-journalist-killed-amal-khalil-latam-intl
• Common Dreams: commondreams.org/news/amal-khalil-war-crime
• Yahoo News UK: uk.news.yahoo.com/israel-accused-war-crimes-targeted-053000181.html