This article was originally published by CPJ on 29/10/2024 and is hereby reproduced by iMEdD with permission. Any reprint permissions are subject to the original publisher.
The recent escalation of Israel’s war in Lebanon has imperiled the press as they face Israeli strikes that have destroyed news outlet offices and killed at least three journalists, in addition to being assaulted, obstructed, threatened, and detained while reporting.
At about 3 a.m. on October 25, an Israeli airstrike hit a compound housing 18 journalists from multiple media outlets in Hasbaya, a town in southern Lebanon. The strike killed pro-Hezbollah Al-Mayadeen TV’s camera operator Ghassan Najjar, broadcast engineer Mohammed Reda, and Hezbollah-owned Al-Manar TV’s camera operator Wissam Kassem.
According to the BBC, the IDF said it struck a Hezbollah military structure in Hasbaya where “terrorists were operating.” The IDF said it received reports “several hours after the strike” that journalists had been hit, adding that “the incident is under review.”
Lebanon filed a complaint with the U.N. Security Council on Monday, October 28, over the strike.
Israeli strikes have killed at least three additional journalists while on assignment and injured at least 11 in Lebanon since the Israel Defense Forces and Lebanon’s militant group Hezbollah began exchanging fire in October 2023. Israel escalated tensions on October 1, 2024, when they launched a ground invasion into Lebanon.
CPJ is investigating another five killings of journalists and media workers in Lebanon by Israel since September 23 to determine if they were killed in relation to their work.
“Journalists are civilians, and the international community has an obligation to protect them by making it clear to Israel that their long-standing record of aggression and impunity in journalist killings will not be tolerated,” said CPJ Program Director Carlos Martinez de la Serna. “International bodies must be given access to conduct independent investigations into these killings. Deadly attacks on journalists, who are protected under international humanitarian law, and obstructions to reporting must immediately stop.”
CPJ has documented the following obstructions to journalism in Lebanon since the September escalation:
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Israeli strikes on media facilities
- Israeli forces bombed and destroyed the outlet offices of the Hezbollah-affiliated religious TV channel Al-Sirat in the southern district of the capital, Beirut, on September 30. No casualties were reported.
- Israeli forces bombed a building in the southern city of Tyre on October 20, which housed the Hezbollah-linked financial institution Al-Qard Al-Hasan and local radio station Sawt Al Farah. Workers evacuated the building, and no casualties were reported in the destruction of the 34-year-old station — one of the oldest in south Lebanon. Reports said the station’s broadcast was stopped by the bombing. Sawt Al Farah’s website continues to operate.
- Israeli forces bombed and destroyed the Beirut office of the Hezbollah-affiliated broadcaster Al-Mayadeen in the Jnah neighborhood of Beirut on October 23. The two missile strikes killed one person and injured five others, none of whom have been identified. The channel said it had previously evacuated its offices and “holds Israel responsible for the attack.”
The IDF responded to CPJ in New York’s email inquiring about these strikes on October 28; the IDF said its operations in Lebanon since October 8 have been “in accordance with its obligations under international law,” and the IDF “directs its strikes towards military targets and military operatives only, and does not target civilian objects and civilians.”
The IDF told CPJ it was unaware of a strike on October 20 in Tyre, Lebanon, and that they could better answer CPJ’s questions with specific coordinates and times of the attacks, information that CPJ has no access to provide.
Displacement and lack of PPE
- Journalists who resided in southern Lebanon, including Beqaa valley and Beirut’s southern suburb, told CPJ they face displacement because of Israeli strikes in this area. At least 15 journalists were displaced and received housing aid from local press freedom groups Skeyes and the Alternative Press Syndicate.
- Lack of personal protective equipment (PPE) has been an issue for many in the country, journalists told CPJ, adding that many press members do not own any and are working as freelancers, without an outlet’s direct support. Skeyes and Alternative Press Syndicate have loaned PPE to at least 100 journalists in the last month, with many more still on the waiting list.
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Attacked while reporting
- A group of around 20 men, some of whom were armed, beat two Belgian journalists with broadcaster VTM News while they reported on an Israeli airstrike that hit the Islamic Health Organization building in the Bashoura neighborhood of Beirut on October 3. Journalist Robin Ramaekers told CPJ he was treated at a hospital for facial fractures, and camera operator Stijn De Smet was treated for gunshot wounds to his leg.
- A man chased and attacked two Italian journalists, reporter Lucia Goracci and camera operator Marco Nicois, with broadcaster RAI TG3 and tried to steal and break their cameras on October 8 in Jiyeh, a town south of Beirut. Their driver, Ahmad Akil Hamzeh, was trying to de-escalate the situation when he collapsed and later died of a heart attack.
- A group of men attacked and insulted Mahmoud Shokor, a reporter with the Saudi-owned Al-Arabiya, while he was reporting live on October 15 in Beqaa, a valley near the central town of Chtoura.
Several local and international journalists spoke to CPJ about being beaten or witnessing other journalists being attacked on the condition of anonymity, citing fear of retaliation as they continue to report on the war. CPJ is investigating at least six additional incidents of journalists being attacked while reporting in various areas in Beirut between October 10 and October 22.
A journalist detained
- Police detained Alia Mansour, a Lebanese Syrian journalist and deputy editor-in-chief of privately owned Now Lebanon, for several hours on October 19 after a social media account impersonating the journalist appeared to be in communication with Israeli social media accounts.
Restricted access
Multiple journalists who spoke to CPJ on the condition of anonymity, citing fear of reprisal, said that journalists working in Lebanon must now get accreditation from multiple parties before filming in any area, given the high risks of attacks. This includes the Lebanese Ministry of Information, political parties, and other groups influential in certain parts of the country.
Multiple reporters told CPJ that authorities have also regularly restricted journalists’ access to bombed areas.
On several occasions since September 2024, unidentified individuals have asked reporters from local and regional TV stations to leave or stop filming during live feeds of the bombings in Lebanon, according to reporters who spoke to CPJ and CPJ’s review of the news feeds. CPJ was unable to confirm the individuals’ affiliations.
Anti-media rhetoric
In October, Hezbollah’s media division accused several local and international media outlets, especially those that embedded reporters with the Israel Defense Forces in southern Lebanon, of “aiding Israel,” inciting violence, and “justification of Israeli crimes.”
Mohammed Afif, Hezbollah’s media relations official, repeated these accusations in an October 22 press conference, adding that “freedom of the press does not give you immunity from incitement or complicity in murder.”
CPJ reviewed dozens of social media posts by unknown individuals in the last month containing calls to ban outlets, burn studios, or obstruct journalists working with the local privately owned Lebanese broadcaster MTV, the Saudi broadcasters Al-Hadath and Al-Arabiya, and the UAE-owned TV broadcaster Sky News Arabia.
Outlets threatened
- Qatari-owned broadcaster Al Jazeera evacuated its studios in Beirut on October 17 over multiple bomb threats later determined to be fake by unnamed security sources.
- NBN, a TV channel affiliated with the Shia political party Amal, part of Lebanon’s ruling coalition, evacuated its studios and paused broadcasting on October 22 after a staffer received a phoned threat that authorities later determined to be fake.
CPJ’s texts to Hezbollah media spokesperson Rana Sahili and Lebanese Minister of Information Ziad Makari requesting comment on obstructions and attacks on the press and any official steps to protect them did not receive a response. A Lebanese Ministry of Interior media spokesperson told CPJ that the ministry declined to comment.
The IDF’s North America Desk responded to CPJ in New York’s email requesting comment on the rest of these incidents on October 24; the IDF asked for an unspecified extension and coordinates of the attacks, information that CPJ, in response, said it has no access to provide.
