BEIRUT – An Israeli airstrike in southern Lebanon’s Jezzine area claimed the lives of three journalists on March 28, according to their affiliated channels and a Lebanese military source, even as Israel defended the action by labeling one victim a Hezbollah operative.
The fatalities included Ali Shoeib, a veteran war correspondent for Hezbollah’s Al Manar channel, and Fatima Ftouni of Al Mayadeen, seen as aligned with Iran-backed groups, alongside Ftouni’s brother, who worked as a cameraman. Both Al Manar and Al Mayadeen confirmed the deaths, highlighting Shoeib’s decades-long coverage of Israeli assaults on Lebanon.
Israel’s military issued a statement accusing Shoeib of serving in Hezbollah’s elite Radwan Force intelligence unit. It claimed he masqueraded as a journalist while systematically revealing IDF soldier positions in southern Lebanon and along the border, justifying the precision strike.
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun denounced the incident as a “blatant crime” breaching international protections for journalists in wartime, while Prime Minister Nawaf Salam called it a “flagrant violation of international humanitarian law.”
This attack unfolded against a backdrop of intensified Israeli operations in southern Lebanon, with the National News Agency reporting dawn strikes on towns like Nabatiyeh, damaging homes, businesses and a fuel station and border areas including Taybeh. Israeli forces aimed advances toward the Litani River, roughly 30km north, to carve out a buffer zone, as Hezbollah claimed counterstrikes on troop gatherings in the Christian-majority village of Debel.
The violence traces back to March 2, when Hezbollah launched rockets into Israel to retaliate for the US-Israeli killing of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, drawing Lebanon deeper into the regional war. Israel has since unleashed widespread airstrikes and a southern ground push.
Journalist casualties have mounted since hostilities reignited in 2023. Recent losses include Al Manar’s Mohammad Sherri in a Beirut strike earlier this month, three media workers in an October 2024 airstrike on their sleeping quarters and Al Mayadeen’s Farah Omar team in November 2023. In October 2023, Reuters’ Issam Abdallah died alongside wounded colleagues from AFP and others near the border with probes by AFP, Reuters, Human Rights Watch, and others attributing it to Israeli tank fire.
The IDF affirmed on March 28 that it persists in dismantling Hezbollah infrastructure nationwide, as cross-border exchanges show no signs of abating.