Journalist’s Killing in Lebanon Prompts War Crime Allegations

Author: Faryal Fatima

August 6, 2026

HRRC calls for an independent, impartial, and transparent investigation into the April 22 strike and urges all parties to respect international humanitarian law, which protects journalists as civilians during armed conflict. We emphasize that allegations of unlawful attacks on journalists must be thoroughly investigated, and effective measures taken to safeguard press freedom and civilian lives in conflict zones.

Photo of Amal Khalil [Image credit:Elif Aztark/Anadolu via Getty Image/AmnestyInternational]

According to investigations by three human rights groups, an Israeli strike that killed Lebanese journalist Amal Khalil and injured her colleague Zeinab Faraj in April was a war crime. Amal Khalil was a 42-year-old journalist for the Lebanese al-Akhbar newspaper, and Zeinab Faraj is a 21-year-old freelance photojournalist. They had actively covered the war in Lebanon in the past three years.

On April 22, Israeli forces carried out three strikes in al-Tiri, southern Lebanon. After the two journalists sought shelter following the initial strike, a second strike hit their vehicle and wounded them. About an hour later, a third strike hit the building where they were sheltering, killing Khalil and seriously wounding Faraj. 

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) responded to the human rights organizations' investigation by saying that Khalil was killed during a series of events in which two military operatives of Hezbollah's military wing, Ali Nabil Bazi and Mohammad Al-Khourani, were targeted.

Heba Morayef, Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa at Amnesty International stated, “After the first strike had eliminated the military-stated target, and with two drones flying low overhead, the Israeli military knew or should have known that two civilian women were sheltering in that building. Despite this, they proceeded with what we have reasonable grounds to believe amounted to a direct attack on civilians, demonstrating a shocking disregard for international humanitarian law.”

While speaking with Amnesty International, Zeinab Faraj said, “The drones got extremely close, coming through the broken roof. Less than a meter away. I was covering my face, thinking of a video I had seen where a drone killed someone like that. I thought it would explode in my face. The drones didn’t carry visible explosives, but they were hovering and provoking fear constantly.”

Human Rights Watch (HRW), Amnesty International, and The Legal Agenda (a Lebanon-based research and advocacy organization) conducted investigations that revealed that Israel intentionally and directly targeted Khalil and Faraj, knowing they were civilians. The organisations called for the attacks to be investigated as war crimes, while HRW called for states to halt arm sales to Israel and put targeted sanctions on Israeli officials responsible for ongoing crimes.

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Glossary

• Disregard: To ignore something.

• Halt: To stop moving or doing something

• International humanitarian law: Set of rules that seeks, for humanitarian reasons, to limit the effects of armed conflict.

• Sanction: An official order, that is taken against a country in order to make it obey international law.

• Strike: To hit or attack someone violently.

• War crime: A serious violation of the laws applicable in an armed conflict.