Israeli Strike During Lebanon Ceasefire Kills 5, Including Reporter

Five people, including a reporter, were killed in Israeli strikes on Lebanon despite an official ceasefire.

AP and AFP reported on April 22 that Amal Khalil, 43, a reporter for the Lebanese daily Al Akhbar, and freelance photojournalist Zeinab Faraj came under Israeli attack while reporting in Altiri in southern Lebanon.

Khalil was killed, while Faraj was seriously injured and taken to a nearby hospital.

The journalists were traveling by car when a vehicle ahead of them was hit in an airstrike. They fled to a nearby house, but that building was then struck in a second attack.

Earlier that day, two other people were killed in an Israeli strike on the village of Altiri.

Rescue workers found Faraj trapped under the rubble with severe injuries, along with the bodies of the two people killed earlier. The search for Khalil was then suspended after Israeli forces continued attacking rescue workers with grenades and machine-gun fire.

After details of the incident emerged, Reporters Without Borders, or RSF, called for international pressure to force Israel to allow the search for Khalil.

About four hours later, rescue workers returned to the scene. After searching for three hours, they found Khalil's body, which was recovered around midnight.

Lebanon's state-run media reported that five people were killed in the country's southern and eastern regions over the course of the day.

It was the highest one-day death toll since a ceasefire between Israel and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah was announced on April 16.

The Israeli military said it had identified and struck two vehicles departing from a military facility used by Hezbollah. It said the vehicles were violating the ceasefire terms and posed an immediate threat.

Israeli authorities also said they had not targeted journalists and had not prevented rescue teams from reaching the site.

Hezbollah said later that evening it struck Israeli military targets in southern Lebanon in response to what it described as Israeli violations of the ceasefire.

As clashes between the two sides continued, Israel and the Lebanese government were scheduled to begin ambassador-level peace talks in Washington, D.C., on April 23.

Park Sang-kyung, Hankyung.com reporter highseoul@hankyung.com