Israeli strikes kill 3 journos, 9 health workers in Lebanon

Published : Sunday, 29 March, 2026 at 10:52 AM Count : 36

Three journalists and nine paramedics were killed in southern Lebanon on Saturday as the US-Israel war on Iran intensified.

Israel's military said it had targeted one of the reporters, with a follow up strike on the rescue workers sent to assist them also causing fatalities.

Lebanon's health ministry said medics were directly targeted en route to the scene of an earlier strike on journalists.

More than 50 medical workers have been killed in Lebanon, including nine in the last day alone, in what the ministry described as an "escalating pace" of Israeli attacks on healthcare workers and facilities.

The Israeli military did not immediately respond to a request for comment. It has accused Hezbollah of using medical facilities for military purposes and warned it would attack hospitals if the group does not change course.

About 120 other health workers have been reported wounded since the escalation intensified earlier this month, according to Lebanon’s Ministry of Public Health.

In response to Saturday’s strike, World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on X in response to the killings that health workers were protected under international humanitarian law and "should never be targeted", without mentioning Israel.

The WHO says the attacks are severely disrupting access to care across southern Lebanon.

Lebanese Health Minister Dr. Rakan Nasser Al-Din, speaking to reporters, said the government has recorded at least 75 attacks on the health sector to date.

Displaying images of damaged medical facilities, he rejected claims they were being used for military purposes, saying they were “primary healthcare centers” and rescue vehicles.

The Israeli military said on Saturday that the Air Force had struck more than 100 targets in Lebanon since Friday.

Israel’s first admission of killing a journo in Lebanon

Saturday's strike is the first time Israel has acknowledged killing a journalist in Lebanon.

Lebanese television news channel Al Manar said its reporter Ali Shaib and reporter Fatima Ftouni, from Lebanese pan-Arab broadcaster Al Mayadeen, were killed when their vehicle was hit. Lebanon's information minister, Paul Morcos, later said Ftouni's brother, Mohammed, a cameraman, had also been killed.

Israel's military said in a statement it had killed Shaib, whom it called a "terrorist", in a targeted strike, accusing him of being part of a Hezbollah intelligence unit, and said he had reported on locations of Israeli soldiers in Lebanon.

The statement, which also accused Shaib of "incitement" against Israeli soldiers and civilians, did not mention the other journalists or provide evidence to support its assertion that Shaib was a member of a Hezbollah intelligence unit.

Hezbollah, which controls Al Manar, denied Shaib was part of one of its intelligence units.

"The enemy’s false claims are nothing but an expression of its weakness and fragility, and a desperate attempt to evade responsibility for this crime," it said in a statement.

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun described the journalists as "civilians doing their professional duty."

"It is a brazen crime that violates all treaties and norms through which journalists enjoy international protection in war," he said in a statement on X.

More than 1,180 people have been killed in Lebanon since US and Israel attacked Iran, according to the country's authorities, who do not otherwise distinguish between civilians and militants.

FP/A