Three Lebanese journalists were killed in an Israeli airstrike on a building known to house reporters in south-east Lebanon, witnesses told the BBC.
A guest house in Hasbaya used by more than a dozen journalists from at least seven media houses was attacked – a courtyard with cars clearly marked “press”.
All three worked for broadcasters Al-Manar TV and Al Mayadeen TV, which released statements paying tribute to their slain employees.
Lebanon’s information minister said the attack was premeditated and a “war crime”.
The Israeli military has yet to comment, but has previously denied targeting journalists.
Those killed were Ghazan Najjar and engineer Mohammad Reda, a camera operator for the pro-Iranian news channel Al Mayadeen, and Wissam Qassem, a camera operator from Hezbollah-affiliated al-Manar.
Lebanon’s health ministry said three more people were wounded in the blast.
Five reporters, including Reuters reporter Issam Abdallah, were killed in Israeli strikes in Lebanon.
Footage broadcast by Al-Jadeed TV – whose journalists also shared the house – showed a bombed-out building with a collapsed roof and rubble-covered floor.
A vehicle used for TV broadcasting overturned on its side, its satellite dish mangled by nearby cabling.
“All the official parties were told that the house was being used as a shelter for journalists. We mobilized everyone,” an al-Jadeed journalist, writhing in concrete dust, panting and coughing, said on live broadcast.
Lebanese journalists covering the conflict in the south of the country had to relocate from nearby Marj’youn to Hasbaya as the former became more dangerous.
Youmna Fawwas, a reporter for broadcaster MTV Lebanon, told the BBC that the strike had woken up journalists on campus at around 03:00 local time (01:00 BST).
Roofs had collapsed on them, and they were surrounded by rubble and dust, he said, and heard the sound of fighter jets overhead.
Each news agency had its own building in the compound, and the building housing Al Mayadeen reporters was “destroyed” while al-Manar staff were inside, he said.
Ms Fawwas said it was a media mix known to both Israel and Hezbollah.
“The airstrike was deliberate. Everyone knew we were there. All the cars were branded with press and TV. We were not even given a warning.”
He added: “They are trying to scare us like they are doing in Gaza. The Israelis are trying to prevent us from covering up the story.”
Lebanon’s information minister accused Israel of deliberately targeting journalists in violation of international law.
“Israeli enemies waited for journalists’ night breaks and betrayed them in their sleep,” Ziad Makari wrote in an op-ed in X.
“It was a massacre, after surveillance and surveillance, with pre-planning and design, and there were 18 journalists there representing seven media houses.”
Hasbaya, about five miles (eight kilometers) from the Israeli border, is home to Muslims, Christians and members of the Druze ethnic and religious minority.
It has seen attacks in its neighborhoods in recent weeks, but this is the first strike on the settlement.
The attack comes as part of a widening conflict in Lebanon, where Israel has been intensifying airstrikes for weeks – as well as launching a ground offensive on border towns and villages in the south.
On Friday, the UN The peacekeepers were forced to evacuate an observation post in Jahajra, in the southwest, after they were fired upon by Israeli forces earlier this week.
Unif has accused Israel of targeting its sites several times in recent weeksCausing injuries to peacekeepers. Israel has denied this and blamed earlier incidents on clashes with nearby Hezbollah fighters.
In the northern Bekaa region, the Israeli military has confirmed an overnight attack on the Juzi border crossing between Syria and Lebanon – which it says is used by Hezbollah and Syrian security forces to smuggle weapons.
Lebanese authorities have recorded 1,700 airstrikes across the country in the past three weeks.
War broke out between Israel and Hezbollah on October 8 last year, the day after a Hamas attack on Israel killed 1,200 people. An Iran-backed armed group has been firing rockets and drones into Israel in what it describes as “solidarity” with Palestinians in Gaza.
Nearly 2,600 people have been killed in the ongoing conflict in Lebanon, according to the country’s health ministry — many of the deaths since Israel began escalating its attacks on Sept. 23.
About 60,000 people in northern Israel have been displaced by Hezbollah rocket attacks, and the Israeli government has declared a major objective to return them to their homes.
In southern Lebanon, satellite images examined by the BBC show that Israel’s intensive bombing campaign has caused more damage to buildings in two weeks than during a year of cross-border fighting.
More than 3,600 buildings in Lebanon appear to have been damaged or destroyed between October 2 and 14 – about 54% of the total damage.
The attack on journalists in Lebanon comes days after the Israeli military accused six Al Jazeera journalists working in northern Gaza of links to Hamas or other armed Palestinian groups.
The Qatari broadcaster said it rejected the allegations and “strongly condemned”.
At least 123 Palestinian journalists and media workers have been killed in Gaza since Israel launched a war on the territory last year, according to the Group to Protect Journalists.
Gaza’s Hamas-run health commission reported more than 42,000 deaths.
Two Israeli journalists were also killed in the clash.
Additional reporting by Rawat Salameh
