Lebanon accuses Israel of blocking attempt to rescue journalist after bomb strike

Israeli strikes in southern Lebanon wounded one journalist and left another trapped under rubble on Wednesday with rescuers temporarily blocked from reaching her by ongoing Israeli fire, Lebanon’s health ministry, a senior military official and press advocates said.

Israel’s military said in a statement it had received reports that two journalists were injured as a result of its strikes, and denied it was preventing rescue teams from reaching the area.

Journalist Amal Khalil and freelance photographer Zeinab Faraj were covering developments near the town of al-Tayri when an Israeli strike hit the vehicle in front of them. They ran into a nearby house, which was then also targeted by an Israeli strike, Lebanon’s health ministry, the senior Lebanese military official and press advocates said. Lebanese rescuers were able to retrieve Faraj, who had suffered a head wound, according to Elsy Moufarrej, who runs the Union of Journalists in Lebanon.

When rescuers returned to help Khalil, the Israeli military dropped a sound grenade, blocking their access to the damaged building, Moufarrej and the senior military official said.

The health ministry said Israel’s military “prevented the completion of the humanitarian mission by firing a sound grenade and live ammunition at the ambulance”.

Rescuers were able to return to the site about four hours after the initial strike, Moufarrej told Reuters. Khalil’s fate was not immediately clear. Two people were killed in the first strike on the car, Lebanese state media reported. Reuters could not immediately confirm the identities of the two people killed.

The Israeli military said it identified two vehicles that left a military structure used by the Lebanese armed group Hezbollah and crossed the “forward defence line”, the term Israel’s military uses to refer to the delineation of the zone of southern Lebanon that Israeli troops are occupying.

It said the cars “approached the troops in a manner that posed an immediate threat to their safety” and that it struck one of the vehicles, then a nearby building. The Israeli military said it does not target journalists. In March, an Israeli airstrike killed three journalists in southern Lebanon, with the Israeli military saying it had targeted one of the reporters.

More than 2,400 people have been killed in Lebanon since Israel launched an offensive in response to Hezbollah firing missiles into Israel, according to Lebanese authorities.