At least four killed in Israeli strikes on Lebanon, journalists wounded

Israeli strikes have killed four people in southern Lebanon and wounded several others, including journalists, Lebanon’s National News Agency (NNA) reported, further straining the fragile ceasefire.

An Israeli strike hit a car in at-Tiri, a village in south Lebanon, killing two people inside, NNA said on Wednesday. It later said several people, including journalists, were wounded in another air strike in the same village.

Israel’s military said it struck two vehicles in southern Lebanon that departed from a military structure used by the Lebanese armed group Hezbollah.

Reporting from Tyre, southern Lebanon, Al Jazeera’s Heidi Pett said two journalists from local media outlet Al Akhbar had travelled to the site of the first attack in at-Tiri.

“Amal Khalil and Zeinab Faraj had gone to the site of an earlier Israeli drone strike on a car, which reportedly killed two civilians in the town of at-Tiri,” Pett reported.

“For several hours … the Red Cross and rescue workers [tried] to reach those two journalists. They were unable to do that for a long time due to continued Israeli attacks in the area.”

Faraj was brought to a local hospital and was reportedly in a “very serious condition and will be requiring surgery”, Pett reported, adding that Khalil’s whereabouts were unknown.

NNA reported earlier that “Israeli occupation forces are besieging journalists Amal Khalil and Zeinab Faraj, and preventing the Red Cross and the Lebanese army from reaching them.”

It said that an Israeli strike targeted the main road linking the town with Haddatha “to prevent ambulance teams from reaching the two journalists.”

Lebanon’s Information Minister Paul Morcos said the government had been in contact with the UN peacekeeping mission in southern Lebanon and the Lebanese army regarding reports that Israel was “besieging journalists and photographers” in at-Tiri.

“We strongly condemn this assault, holding Israel fully responsible for their safety, and affirming the necessity of immediately ensuring their protection and guaranteeing freedom of media work,” Morcos said on X.

The Israeli military statement said it “does not target journalists and acts to mitigate harm to them” while also denying preventing rescue services from reaching the site of an attack in at-Tiri.

Separately, two people were killed and several others wounded in an Israeli attack on the town of Yahmar al-Shaqif, also in southern Lebanon, NNA reported.

Hezbollah attacks

The Lebanese armed group said it attacked an Israeli artillery position in southern Lebanon with a drone, in response to what it said was an Israeli violation of the ceasefire.

The Israeli military said it had intercepted “a hostile aircraft” launched ‌‌by Hezbollah towards Israeli soldiers in southern Lebanon.

Hostilities between Hezbollah and Israel reignited on March 2 after Israel killed Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. Up until then, the Iran-backed group had not attacked Israel since a November 2024 ceasefire, despite near-daily breaches of the deal by Israel.

More than 2,400 people have been killed in Lebanon since Israel launched its offensive and subsequent invasion of southern Lebanon. Israel has seized a belt of territory at the border where its troops remain.

The latest attacks come on the eve of planned ⁠⁠talks in Washington between Lebanese and Israeli ambassadors as Lebanese President Joseph Aoun said Beirut would seek an extension of the 10-day, US-mediated ceasefire, which is set to expire on Sunday.

The US-brokered ceasefire in Lebanon emerged separately from Washington’s efforts to resolve its ⁠⁠conflict with Tehran, though Iran had called for Lebanon to be included in the agreement.

French soldier dies of injuries

Separately, President Emmanuel Macron said a second French soldier has died after an attack on UN peacekeepers in Lebanon last week, which he blamed on Hezbollah.

The soldier, Chief Corporal Anicet Girardin, was severely wounded on April 18 and died of his wounds after being evacuated to France on Tuesday.

UNIFIL said initial assessments indicated the fire came from non‑state actors, allegedly Hezbollah. The Iran-aligned group denied involvement in a statement.