Three Lebanese journalists were killed in an Israeli attack on a car in southern Lebanon, the Lebanese Al Manar television reported on Saturday.
Al Manar reporter Ali Shaib and Al Majadin TV reporter Fatima Ftuni were killed when their vehicle was hit.
Lebanon’s information minister later said that Fatima’s brother, videographer Mohamed Ftuni, was also killed in the attack.
Al Manar is controlled by the Iranian-backed Lebanese group Hezbollah, while Al Majadin is considered editorially aligned with Iran’s allies and supporters in the region.
The Israeli military said it had “eliminated” Shaib, whom it described as a “terrorist” in Hezbollah’s intelligence unit who had been reporting on the locations of Israeli soldiers in southern Lebanon. They accused him of “incitement” against Israeli soldiers and civilians.
The statement did not mention other victims, nor did it provide evidence to support the claim that Shaib was a member of Hezbollah, Reuters points out.
Hezbollah denied Israel’s accusations, saying in a statement: “The enemy’s false claims are nothing but an expression of its weakness and fragility, and a desperate attempt to avoid responsibility for this crime.”
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun described the journalists as “civilians doing their professional duty”.
(Vijesti.ba)
