Khalil’s death has been condemned by Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam as a war crime, highlighting a troubling pattern of targeting media professionals in conflict zones.
Lebanese journalist Amal Khalil was killed in Israeli strikes in southern Lebanon on Thursday, according to local officials and her employer, as violence continued despite a recent ceasefire. Khalil, 43, who worked for the newspaper Al-Akhbar, died after coming under fire while reporting near the town of al-Tayri. A freelance photographer accompanying her, Zeinab Faraj, was wounded.
There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military on Khalil’s death. Earlier, it said it had received reports that two journalists were injured as a result of its strikes.
According to Lebanon’s health ministry, a senior Lebanese military official and press advocates, Khalil and Faraj were covering developments in the area when an Israeli strike hit a vehicle in front of them. The pair ran into a nearby house for shelter, but the building was also struck, the same sources said. Faraj was later rescued with a head wound, according to Elsy Moufarrej, who heads the Union of Journalists in Lebanon.
Rescuers initially struggled to reach Khalil. Moufarrej and a senior military official said Israeli forces dropped a sound grenade when emergency teams attempted to access the damaged building, blocking their efforts.
استشهدت مراسلة الأخبار في جنوب لبنان الزميلة آمال خليل بعد ملاحقة طائرات جيش العدو لها، واستهدافها بعدد من الغارات التي أصابت سيارتها أولاً، ثم البيت الذي لجأت إليه، في استهداف واضح للصحافة والصحافيين في لبنان. pic.twitter.com/NKnb0jvaAe
— جريدة الأخبار – Al-Akhbar (@AlakhbarNews) April 22, 2026
Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam has condemned the killing of journalist Amal Khalil, calling her targeting and preventing rescuers from reaching her a “blatant war crime”.
“Israel’s targeting of media professionals in the South while they are performing their professional duties can no longer be viewed as a series of isolated incidents. Rather, it has become a proven pattern – one that we condemn and reject, just as it is condemned and rejected by all international laws and norms,” Salam said on X.
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”.
The Israeli military has denied preventing rescue teams from reaching the area.
Rescuers were eventually able to return about four hours after the initial strike. After a further three hours searching through rubble, they recovered Khalil’s body, the military official said. Her death was later confirmed by Al-Akhbar on its website.
Deadliest Day Since Ceasefire
Khalil’s death brought the total number of people killed on Wednesday to five, making it the deadliest day since a 10-day ceasefire was announced on 16 April to halt hostilities between Israel and the armed group Hezbollah.
Two people were killed in the initial strike on the vehicle, according to Lebanese state media, although their identities have not been independently confirmed.
In a statement, the Israeli military said it had identified two vehicles leaving a structure used by Hezbollah and crossing what it described as a “forward defence line” in southern Lebanon. It said the vehicles approached Israeli troops “in a manner that posed an immediate threat to their safety”, prompting a strike on one of the cars and then a nearby building. The military said it does not target journalists.
