Israeli strikes in southern Lebanon on Wednesday, April 22, 2026, killed Lebanese journalist Amal Khalil and wounded a photographer who was with her, Lebanese officials and her employer, the Al-Akhbar newspaper, said. A senior Lebanese military official and press advocates said Khalil, 43, died after rescuers reached the site several hours after the initial strikes; Al-Akhbar announced her death on its website.
There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military specifically about Khalil’s death. Earlier, Israel’s military said it had received reports that two journalists were injured in its strikes. In its statement, the Israeli military also denied that it prevented rescue teams from reaching the area.
Khalil and freelance photographer Zeinab Faraj were covering developments near the town of al-Tayri when an Israeli strike hit a vehicle in front of them, according to Lebanon’s health ministry, the senior military official and press groups. The two ran into a nearby house, which the sources say was then struck as well. Rescuers retrieved Faraj, who suffered a head wound, Lebanon’s Union of Journalists chief Elsy Moufarrej said.
Moufarrej and the senior military official said rescuers attempting to reach Khalil were blocked after the Israeli military fired a sound grenade. Lebanon’s health ministry said Israeli forces “prevented the completion of the humanitarian mission by firing a sound grenade and live ammunition at the ambulance.” Rescuers returned to the site about four hours after the initial strike and, after roughly three more hours searching the rubble, recovered Khalil’s body, the senior official said.
The Israeli military said it had identified two vehicles that left a Hezbollah-used military structure and crossed what it calls the “forward defense line,” the delineation of the zone of southern Lebanon Israeli troops occupy. It said the cars “approached the troops in a manner that posed an immediate threat to their safety,” and that it struck one vehicle and then a nearby building, asserting that it does not target journalists.
The killing was the deadliest single day since a 10-day ceasefire announced on April 16, 2026, and brought the day’s toll to five people. In March, an Israeli airstrike in southern Lebanon killed three journalists; Israel at the time said it had targeted one of the reporters. Lebanese authorities say more than 2,400 people have been killed in Lebanon since Israel launched an offensive in response to Hezbollah’s March 2 attack. Israel says it has seized a belt of border territory to create a buffer zone to protect northern Israel from Hezbollah attacks.
Original Source: https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/lebanese-journalist-amal-khalil-killed-in-israeli-strike-11395695#publisher=newsstand
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Publish Date: 2026-04-23 03:21:00
