Israel Airstrike Kills Journalists In Lebanon; Also Strikes In Gaza
By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News
BEIRUT/JERUSALEM (Worthy News) – Several journalists have been killed and injured in an Israeli air strike overnight in southeastern Lebanon near the border with Syria, Israeli and Lebanese sources said Friday.
Lebanese state media said Friday that three journalists were killed in the Israeli air strike overnight in southeastern Lebanon. “Our correspondent in Zahle reported the death of three journalists in an Israeli raid on Hasbaya,” Lebanon’s National News Agency reported, adding that “Israeli warplanes raided at 3:30 am [local time] on the Lebanese-Syrian border.”
Al Jazeera network reporter Imran Khan, who is staying in the struck area where journalists are being housed in villas, said: “We are hearing that three people have been killed – two cameramen and a technician.”
Arabic media reported that the attack came after “Israel killed” three soldiers from the Lebanese Armed Forces and just over one year “after Israeli tank fire killed Reuters journalist Issam Abdallah and wounded several others,” also in southern Lebanon.
Israel has denied deliberately targeting journalists but says some stayed in active combat zones. It also says it targets Hezbollah facilities and warns civilians to keep a distance from intended strikes there, but Lebanese officials claim numerous people have died.
News about the killed journalists came shortly after smoke billowed above the southern suburbs of the Lebanese capital, Beirut, late Thursday following Israeli air strikes that the Israeli military said targeted Hezbollah sites.
HEZBOLLAH INFRASTRUCTURE
Lebanon’s government said at least 19 people were killed in Israeli attacks on Lebanon over the past 24 hours. The Israeli military said it also suffered casualties, with five soldiers killed and seven seriously wounded in clashes with Hezbollah in southern Lebanon
Israel said it targeted the infrastructure of the Iran-backed Hezbollah group and had warned residents to stay away from clearly announced areas.
Footage reviewed by Worthy News showed smoke in Beirut’s southern suburbs that were hit, as seen from the Baabda area.
Ahead of the strikes, IDF Arabic Spokesperson Avichay Adraee had issued evacuation warnings to residents of Chouaifet El Aamroussieh and Haret Hreik, south of Beirut.
“You are located near Hezbollah facilities and interests, against which the IDF will operate in the near future.” He advised residents to remain at a distance of no less than 500 meters (547 yards), attaching a photo marking the location of the intended strike in red.
Earlier, IDF said it struck several weapons storage and manufacturing facilities belonging to Hezbollah near the Beirut suburb of Dahieh.
IDF STRIKES
The IDF noted that the sites hit were built under and inside civilian buildings, which it said was a part of Hezbollah’s “systematic abuse of civilian infrastructure, endangering the civilian population in the area.”
Their strikes came as the IDF published details about an underground hideout belonging to Hezbollah’s Radwan Forces for their “Conquer the Galilee” plan, aimed at killing more people than Hamas did on October 7, last year.
“Hezbollah has openly declared that it plans to carry out its own October 7th massacre on Israel’s northern border on an even larger scale. The IDF spokesperson, Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari, confirmed that they call this plan “Conquer the Galilee.”
“For years, Hezbollah has been planning to do in northern Israel what Hamas did in southern Israel on October 7th: invade Israel, infiltrate civilian communities, and massacre innocent civilians,” he said.
In the hideout, IDF troops located bunk beds, storage cabinets, food supplies, infrastructure for long-term stays, a large amount of equipment, weapons, and launch positions.
“During these limited and localized ground operations in southern Lebanon, our troops also located four weapons storage facilities with rockets, mortars, [rocket-propelled grenades] RPGs, and more,” the IDF added.
ONGOING OPERATION
The military says its ongoing ground operation and airstrikes in Lebanon are to ensure that “Hezbollah can never carry out such an attack and to enable all 60,000 Israelis to safely return to their homes in northern Israel.”
It also continued operations against Hezbollah ally Hamas in Gaza.
Hamas-linked officials said Israeli tanks attacked northern Gaza’s Kamal Adwan Hospital, causing severe damage to the facility’s intensive care unit as it struggles with an influx of wounded.
An Israeli army strike on “the besieged Jabalia refugee camp killed a large number of people,” Hamas-run authorities said in what the Gaza Civil Defense Agency called a “major massacre.”
Israel has denied targeting civilians in Gaza but accused Hamas of hiding among civilians. It says it seeks to destroy Hamas and hopes Western nations will continue to support its efforts.
In addition to the U.S., new figures showed that in Europe, Germany authorized more than $100 million in military exports to Israel in the last three months.
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