Israeli strike kills three journalists in south Lebanon

By Maya Gebeily, Amina Ismail and Humeyra Pamuk

BEIRUT/LONDON (Reuters) -An Israeli strike killed at least three journalists and wounded several others as they slept in guesthouses in southern Lebanon on Friday, Lebanon's health ministry said, in what Beirut declared a war crime.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said there was an urgency to get a diplomatic resolution to the conflict in Lebanon, a day after he said Washington did not want to see a protracted campaign there by its ally Israel.

Israel launched its major offensive in Lebanon a month ago, saying it was targeting the heavily armed, Iran-backed Hezbollah to secure the return home of tens of thousands of Israelis evacuated from the north due to cross-border rocket attacks.

Beirut authorities say the offensive has killed more than 2,500 people and displaced more than 1.2 million people, the majority of them over the last month, creating a humanitarian crisis.

"We have a sense of real urgency in getting to a diplomatic resolution and the full implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 1701, such that there can be real security along border between Israel and Lebanon," Blinken said in London.

He said it was important so "people at both sides of the border can have the confidence to... return to their homes".

The journalists killed were camera operator Ghassan Najjar and engineer Mohamed Reda of the pro-Iranian news outlet Al-Mayadeen and camera operator Wissam Qassem, who worked for Hezbollah's Al-Manar, the outlets said in separate statements.

They had been staying in the southern town of Hasbaya when it was hit around 3 a.m. (midnight GMT). The town, inhabited by both Muslims and Christians, had not previously been targeted.

It was the deadliest attack on media in Lebanon since hostilities erupted between Israel and Hezbollah just over a year ago, prompted by the Gaza war.

There was no immediate comment from Israel, which in general denies deliberately attacking journalists.

'WAR CRIME'

Five journalists have been killed in previous Israeli strikes while reporting on the conflict in Lebanon, including Reuters visual journalist Issam Abdallah on Oct. 13, 2023. Another four were killed at home over the last month, according to the Samir Kassir Foundation, a press freedom organisation.

"This is a war crime," Lebanese Information Minister Ziad Makary said. At least 18 journalists from six media outlets, including Sky News, Al-Jazeera and Lebanese broadcasters, were using the guesthouses.

"We heard the airplane flying very low - that's what woke us up - and then we heard the two missiles," Muhammad Farhat, a reporter with the Lebanese outlet Al-Jadeed, told Reuters.

He said several bungalows had been damaged. His footage showed overturned and damaged cars, some marked "Press".

"We had been reporting from there for about a month without anything happening. I don't even know how I climbed out from under the rubble," Farhat said.

Israel has used airstrikes to pound southern Lebanon, the Bekaa Valley and Beirut's southern suburbs, while its ground forces have also gone into southern Lebanon to target Hezbollah.

Israel said five soldiers had been killed in combat in southern Lebanon, after announcing on Thursday the deaths of five others.

Hezbollah has kept up rocket attacks despite painful blows, including the killing of its Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah and numerous other top commanders.

The group said on Friday it had fired more rockets into Israel, targeting a military base south of Haifa.

Blinken signalled on Thursday a renewed effort to revive negotiations to end the Gaza war through a deal that would secure a ceasefire and the release of hostages held by the Palestinian militant group Hamas.

Washington has expressed hope that death of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, a mastermind of the Oct. 7, 2023 attack on Israel, could provide an impetus for an end to the fighting.

Israel has said David Barnea, head of the Mossad intelligence agency, will travel to Doha on Sunday to meet CIA director William Burns and Qatar's prime minister.

An Egyptian security delegation met a delegation of Hamas leaders in Cairo as part of the efforts to revive Gaza ceasefire talks, Egypt's state-affiliated Al Qahera News TV said.

Hamas senior official Osama Hamdan told Al-Mayadeen there was no change in the group's position. "The hostages held by the resistance will only return with a stop to the aggression and complete withdrawal," Hamdan said.

LEBANESE HOSPITALS ATTACKED

The Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas-led attack on Israel killed 1,200 people and resulted in another 250 being abducted, according to Israeli tallies. Israel's Gaza offensive has killed nearly 43,000 people, say Gaza authorities, and laid waste to the territory.

Israel has faced heavy criticism for inflicting civilian casualties in Gaza and Lebanon and has been accused of targeting civilian infrastructure including hospitals and schools.

It rejects the criticism, saying it takes every precaution to limit harm to civilians when targeting Hamas and Hezbollah. It accuses both groups of basing fighters among civilians and using them as human shields, which they deny.

Lebanon's Health Minister Firas Abiad said his ministry had recorded 55 attacks on hospitals, 36 of which were targeted directly. "During these attacks 12 were killed in these hospitals and 60 were injured," he said.

(Additional reporting by Ahmad Al Kerdi, Emilie Madi and Laila Bassam in Lebanon; Clauda Tanios and Tala Ramadan in Dubai, Kanishka Singh in Washington; Writing by Michael Perry and Tom Perry; editing by Lincoln Feast, Kevin Liffey and Gareth Jones)