Israeli Airstrikes Kill Three Journalists and Nine Paramedics in Southern Lebanon

Israeli airstrikes in southern Lebanon on Saturday, March 28, 2026, killed three journalists traveling in a clearly marked press vehicle and nine paramedics in five separate attacks, drawing sharp condemnation from Lebanese officials and international health authorities. Ali Shaib, a reporter for Al-Manar, and Fatima Fatouni and her brother Mohamed Fatouni, both working for Al Mayadeen, were killed when four precision missiles struck their vehicle on the Jezzine road, according to Al Mayadeen. A fourth person died in the same strike, according to the Lebanese National News Agency. When ambulances arrived at the scene, paramedics were also targeted, killing one of them, Al Jazeera reported.

Israeli military claims slain reporter was Hezbollah intelligence operative The Israeli military acknowledged the strike and alleged that Ali Shaib had been embedded within a Hezbollah Radwan Force intelligence unit, using his press credentials as cover to track Israeli troop positions and distribute propaganda. Neither Al-Manar nor Al Mayadeen accepted that characterization. Al-Manar described Shaib as one of its most prominent war correspondents, having covered Israeli attacks on Lebanon for decades. The Israeli military has repeatedly alleged that journalists it targets in both Lebanon and Gaza are linked to armed groups, a pattern that press freedom organizations have documented without accepting as justification for lethal strikes. Al Mayadeen defended Fatima Fatouni as a reporter recognized for accurate and objective coverage, and noted that earlier this month she had reported live on the death of her own uncle and his family in an Israeli strike. The network stated that with Saturday's killings, it has now lost six journalists since hostilities began, naming Farah Omar, Rabih Me'mari, Ghassan Najjar, and Mohammad Reda as those killed in earlier attacks.

Lebanese president cites Geneva Conventions, calls strike a 'blatant crime' Lebanese President Joseph Aoun condemned the strike in the strongest terms, invoking the 1949 Geneva Conventions and UN Security Council Resolution 1738 as legal frameworks that explicitly protect journalists in armed conflict. „a blatant crime that violates all norms and treaties under which journalists are granted international protection during armed conflicts” — Joseph Aoun via Al Jazeera Prime Minister Nawaf Salam, who has served as Lebanon's 53rd prime minister since February 2025, described the attack as a flagrant violation of international humanitarian law. Aoun called on all international bodies to act to end what he described as ongoing violations on Lebanese territory. Dozens of journalists gathered in Martyrs' Square in Beirut on Saturday to protest the killings, marching in solidarity with their slain colleagues, according to Rai News. The Lebanese Ministry of Health reported that , with more than 3,300 injured, as Israeli troops continued advancing toward the Litani River.

WHO calls March the second deadliest month for health workers since 2023 The nine paramedics killed on Saturday were working across five Lebanese villages when they were struck while providing emergency services, according to the WHO. Five health workers died and two were injured in Zoutar al-Sharqiya, two more died in Kfar Tibnit where three others were wounded, one paramedic died in an attack on a health center in Ghandouriyeh, and one died in Jezzine in the same area where the journalists were killed, with two additional people injured in Kfar Dajjal. WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus announced that the death toll for health workers in Lebanon reached 51 for the month of March 2026 alone. „March has been the second deadliest month for health workers in Lebanon since the WHO began monitoring attacks against health facilities in the country in October 2023” — Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus via eldiario.es The killings of journalists fit a broader pattern documented by the Committee to Protect Journalists, which recorded a global high of 129 journalists killed in 2025, the most since it began collecting data over three decades ago, with Israel responsible for two-thirds of those deaths. The organization noted that Israel has now killed more journalists than any other nation in its recorded history.

Israel and Hezbollah fought a major war in the summer of 2006, which ended with UN Security Council Resolution 1701 establishing a ceasefire and expanding the UN Interim Force in Lebanon. A new and significantly more intense round of hostilities began in late 2024, with Israeli forces pushing into southern Lebanon. Hezbollah lost its longtime leader Hassan Nasrallah in an Israeli airstrike in Beirut in September 2024. The current conflict, which Lebanon's Ministry of Health has been tracking since at least March 2, 2026, has killed over 1,142 people and wounded more than 3,300, according to Lebanese health authorities. Al Mayadeen reported a previous Israeli attack on journalists' residences in Hasbaya in October 2024, in which three people were killed, including photographers from both Al Mayadeen and Al-Manar.

Key events — journalists and health workers killed in Lebanon, March 2026: — ; — ; —

51 (health workers) — killed in Lebanon in March 2026 alone, per WHO