Lebanese army says journalist killed by Israeli gunfire in southern ...

20 Oct 2023

Reuters

JERUSALEM/BEIRUT, Oct 19 (Reuters) - The Lebanese army said a journalist was killed by Israeli gunfire on Thursday in a southern Lebanon border area where Israel's forces and Lebanese group Hezbollah had a heavy exchange of fire.

Israel's military said earlier that its forces had targeted Hezbollah infrastructure and struck three people who attempted to launch anti-tank missiles at Israel. The military, asked about the Lebanese army's account, said it was investigating the matter.

Iran-backed Hezbollah said it fired rockets at an Israeli position in the village of Manara and that Israel responded with shelling. The cross-border blows were the latest in the worst bout of violence on the border in 17 years.

A spokesperson for the U.N. peacekeeping force in the area, UNIFIL, said a civilian had been killed in the exchange.

"The Lebanese Armed Forces requested UNIFIL's assistance for seven individuals stranded near the Blue Line, close to Sheikh Abad's tomb, during a significant exchange of fire across the Blue Line," UNIFIL spokesperson Andrea Tenenti said.

He said UNIFIL contacted the Israeli army to request it cease fire in order to rescue the group. "Tragically, one person lost his life during this incident and the others were successfully rescued," Tenenti said.

The Lebanese army described the seven people as media personnel, saying Israeli forces targeted them with machine guns, killing one and wounding another. It did not provide their identities.

The incident came nearly a week after a Reuters journalist was killed and other journalists injured in southern Lebanon. Lebanon's army blamed Israel for the incident, which Israel's military says it is reviewing. Reuters has called on Israel to conduct a "thorough, swift and transparent investigation".

Cross-border exchanges have flared since Oct. 7, when Palestinian group Hamas attacked southern Israel and Israeli forces launched a counteroffensive on Gaza.

Iran-backed Hezbollah, an ally of Hamas which fought a war with Israel in 2006, says 13 of its fighters have been killed so far in south Lebanon since Oct. 7 in the flare-ups on Israel's northern border.

Hezbollah said its fighters had hit the Israeli position in Manara on Thursday with guided missiles. It also said its fighters had attacked four other Israeli positions in the border area on Thursday.

The Israeli military said fighters in Lebanon had fired at least two anti-armour missiles into Israel, striking the village of Manara without causing casualties. The military later said it had struck Hezbollah observation posts and other infrastructure.

Hezbollah has said it was fully ready to contribute to the conflict with Israel. But sources familiar with its thinking say its attacks on the border have been designed to keep Israeli forces busy without opening a major new front.

Israel's defence minister said on Oct. 15 that Israel had no interest in waging war on its northern front, and that if Hezbollah restrained itself then Israel would also keep the situation along the border as it was.