Source: Amnesty International –
An Israeli attack that killed Lebanese journalist Amal Khalil and seriously wounded camerawoman Zeinab Faraj in south Lebanon on 22 April 2026 was a direct attack on civilians which should be investigated as a war crime, said Amnesty International today.
Testimonies from the sole survivor and first responders, corroborated by audiovisual material, coordination records, and external reporting, indicate that the two journalists, both civilians, had taken shelter after an air strike on the car in front of them had killed two men. Over the following two hours, with drones hovering at close range overhead, two further air strikes hit first their car parked near them and then the building where they were sheltering.
Amnesty International’s investigation paints a harrowing picture of a direct attack on two civilians while they had sought refuge from Israeli attacks.
Heba Morayef, Amnesty International
“Amnesty International’s investigation paints a harrowing picture of a direct attack on two civilians while they had sought refuge from Israeli attacks. After the first strike had eliminated the military-stated target, and with two drones flying low overhead, the Israeli military knew or should have known that two civilian women were sheltering in that building. Despite this, they proceeded with what we have reasonable grounds to believe amounted to a direct attack on civilians, demonstrating a shocking disregard for international humanitarian law,” said Heba Morayef, Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa at Amnesty International.
“The fact that the two journalists were in what Israel has designated a no-return zone does not make them lawful targets. All parties to a conflict have a clear obligation to distinguish between civilians and military targets at all times and to direct their attacks only at military objectives. There can be no justification for targeting civilians who sought shelter in search of safety. This attack must be promptly, independently and impartially investigated as a war crime.”
On 22 April, the Israeli military carried out three strikes in the village of al-Tiri, Nabatieh governorate, which falls within an area the Israeli military has unilaterally designated as a “Forward Defence” zone and banned civilian residents from returning. The first strike hit a car at 2.25pm and killed two men. The two journalists, who had been following the two men in a second car, left their car and sought shelter in a nearby structure, including because two drones were hovering overhead and they feared this meant further strikes.
Around an hour later, a second strike targeted the journalists’ vehicle which was parked nearby, and they were wounded in the blast. Approximately one hour later, a third strike hit the building where they were sheltering, leading to the death of Amal Khalil, a journalist for the Lebanese newspaper Al Akhbar and seriously wounding Zeinab Faraj.
Throughout the two-hour attack two drones hovered overhead. Zeinab Faraj told Amnesty International:
“The drones got extremely close, coming through the broken roof. Less than a meter away. I was covering my face, thinking of a video I had seen where a drone killed someone like that. I thought it would explode in my face. The drones didn’t carry visible explosives, but they were hovering and provoking fear constantly.”