Three Lebanese journalists were killed in an Israeli airstrike on a building known to house reporters in southeast Lebanon, a witness told the BBC.
The attack took place at a guest house on Hasbaya’s grounds, occupied by more than a dozen journalists from at least seven media outlets, with cars marked as “media personnel” parked in the courtyard.
The three men worked for broadcasters Al-Manar TV and Al-Mayadeen TV, and both companies issued statements expressing their condolences to the slain employees.
Lebanon’s information minister said the attack was deliberate and a “war crime.”
The Israeli military has not yet commented, but has previously denied targeting journalists.
Those killed were Ghassan Najjar, a cameraman for the pro-Iranian news channel Al Mayadeen, engineer Mohamed Reda, and Wissam Qasem, a cameraman for Hezbollah affiliate Almanar.
Lebanon’s Health Ministry said three other people were injured in the explosion.
Previous Israeli airstrikes in Lebanon had killed five journalists, including Reuters journalist Issam Abdallah.
Footage broadcast by Al-Jadeed TV, where journalists were also present, showed the building with its roof collapsed and the floor covered in rubble from the bombing.
A vehicle being used for television broadcasts overturned, messing up a satellite dish with nearby cables.
“All parties have been informed that the house is being used as accommodation for journalists. We have coordinated with all parties involved,” said a journalist from al-Jadeed, covered in concrete dust. He spoke while gasping for air and coughing during the broadcast.
Lebanese journalists covering the conflict in the south of the country had to relocate to Hasbaya when nearby Marjoyon became too dangerous.
Youmna Fawaz, a reporter for broadcaster MTV Lebanon, told the BBC that journalists at the compound were woken up by the strike at around 3am local time (1am BST).
She said the ceiling had fallen in and she was surrounded by debris and dust, with the sound of fighter jets overhead.
She said each news organization has its own building on the premises, and the building where Al-Mayadeen was housed was “destroyed” while Al-Manar employees were inside.
Fawaz said it is a media conglomerate known as such for both Israel and Hezbollah.
“The airstrike was deliberate. Everyone knew we were there. All the cars had press and TV labels on them. We weren’t even given any warning. Ta.”
He added: “They are trying to terrorize us, just like they are doing in Gaza. The Israelis are trying to prevent us from reporting.”
Lebanon’s information minister accused Israel of deliberately targeting journalists in violation of international law.
“The enemy of Israel waited for the journalist’s night break and tried to betray him while he was sleeping,” Ziad Makary wrote in a post on X.
“There were 18 journalists there representing seven news organizations, so this was an assassination that was the result of premeditated planning and surveillance and tracking.”
Hasbaya, about eight kilometers from the Israeli border, is home to Muslims, Christians, and Druze ethnic and religious minorities.
There have been attacks on surrounding areas in recent weeks, but this was the first attack on the settlement itself.
The attack comes as part of the growing conflict in Lebanon, where Israel has stepped up airstrikes in recent weeks and has also launched ground incursions into southern border towns and villages.
On Friday, U.N. peacekeepers said they were forced to withdraw from an observation post in Zahazira in the southwest after firing by Israeli forces earlier this week.
UNIFIL has accused Israel of targeting its bases several times in recent weeks, injuring peacekeepers. Israel denies this, saying past incidents were the result of clashes with neighboring Hezbollah fighters.
The Israeli military acknowledged overnight attacks on the Jussier border crossing between Syria and Lebanon in the northern Bekaa region, which it said was being used by Hezbollah and Syrian security forces to smuggle weapons.
Lebanese authorities have recorded more than 1,700 airstrikes across the country in the past three weeks.
Fighting broke out between Israel and Hezbollah on October 8 last year, the day after Hamas attacked Israel, killing around 1,200 people. Iranian-backed militants have since fired rockets and drones at Israel in what they claim is “solidarity” with Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.
Some 2,600 people have been killed in the current conflict in Lebanon, many of which have occurred since Israel began escalating attacks on September 23, according to the Lebanese Ministry of Health.
Around 60,000 people have been displaced by Hezbollah rocket attacks in northern Israel, and the Israeli government has declared returning them to their homes a key goal.
In southern Lebanon, satellite images reviewed by the BBC show that increased Israeli bombing has caused more damage to buildings in two weeks than in a year of cross-border fighting.
More than 3,600 buildings are believed to have been damaged or destroyed in Lebanon between October 2 and 14, according to the data, representing about 54% of the total damage.
The attacks on journalists in Lebanon came days after the Israeli military accused six Al Jazeera journalists in northern Gaza of having ties to Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups.
Qatar’s broadcaster denied the allegations and said it “strongly condemns” them.
At least 123 Palestinian journalists and media workers have been killed in Gaza since Israel began its war there last year, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists.
Health authorities in Hamas-run Gaza have reported more than 42,000 deaths since then.
Two Israeli journalists were also killed in the conflict.
Additional reporting by Rawad Salameh
