An April 22, 2026, Israeli military strike in southern Lebanon that killed journalist Amal Khalil and severely injured her colleague Zeinab Faraj constituted a war crime, according to investigations from hrw.org, Amnesty International, and Legal Agenda.
Al-Tiri Strike Targeting Amal Khalil and Zeinab Faraj
The attacks occurred in the southern town of al-Tiri. Khalil, a 42-year-old reporting for the Lebanese daily news outlet al-Akhbar, and Faraj, a 21-year-old freelance camera operator, had traveled to the village to verify reports that Israeli troops had left the area. They were driving behind a vehicle carrying Ali Nabil Bazzi and Mohammed Hourani, who were killed in the initial strike at approximately 2:30 p.m.
United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon Deconfliction Request
The first strike forced Khalil and Faraj to abandon their car and seek shelter near a neighboring building. Evidence reviewed by hrw.org, along with witness statements, indicated that the Israeli military knew or should have known the women were civilians. At 3:00 p.m., the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) transmitted a deconfliction request from the Lebanese Red Cross to access the site.
Subsequent attacks followed, including a second strike between 3:21 p.m. and 3:42 p.m. that hit the journalists’ car and injured Khalil, prompting the two to move inside a building. At 4:25 p.m., a third Israeli strike bombed and collapsed the building while the women were sheltering inside.
Tebnin Governmental Hospital Treatment and Injuries
Rights organizations reported that the Israeli military delayed rescue efforts by preventing Lebanese ambulances and Red Cross workers from reaching the site for hours, dropping stun grenades on workers and firing on ambulances. Hospital reports indicated that Khalil might have been alive hours after the building collapsed on them. Khalil was pronounced dead around 7:00 p.m. at Tebnin Governmental Hospital from cardiac arrest resulting from a head injury that caused severe bleeding. Faraj sustained a fractured skull, severe injuries to her right leg and eye, and a crushed hand.
In response, the Israeli military stated that it regrets any harm caused to journalists and claimed the pair were killed as part of a series of events targeting two Hezbollah military operatives.
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