Human Rights Watch Calls Israeli Strike That Killed Lebanese Journalist Amal Khalil a War Crime
- Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, and Legal Agenda have accused Israel of deliberately targeting journalists Amal Khalil and Zeinab Faraj
- Hospital records showed Khalil was likely still alive hours after an Israeli strike buried her under rubble in the village of al-Tiri in south Lebanon
- Israeli quadcopters dropped stun grenades on Lebanese Red Cross workers and fired on their ambulances as they tried to reach the trapped journalists
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Three human rights organisations have declared that an Israeli strike which killed Lebanese journalist Amal Khalil and seriously wounded her colleague Zeinab Faraj in April 2026 constituted a war crime.
Human Rights Watch (HRW), Amnesty International, and Legal Agenda published their findings on Thursday, July 2026, each concluding that Israel directly and deliberately attacked the two women despite clear evidence that they were civilians.
Source: Getty Images
The organisations demanded a full investigation into the strikes and called on the international community to impose an arms embargo on Israel.
What happened in al-Tiri?
On April 22, 2026, Khalil, a 42-year-old journalist with Lebanese newspaper al-Akhbar, and Faraj, a 21-year-old freelance camerawoman and photojournalist, drove to the village of al-Tiri in south Lebanon to confirm reports that Israeli troops had withdrawn from the area. They followed a car carrying Ali Nabil Bazzi, a municipal official from Bint Jbeil, and his companion Mohammed Hourani.
At 2.25pm, Israel struck the vehicle carrying Bazzi and Hourani, killing both men. Khalil immediately contacted the Lebanese civil defence for help. Rescue crews reached the edge of the village but were stopped at a military checkpoint, awaiting Israeli authorisation to enter.
At 3.31pm, a civil defence member called Khalil and told her to leave in her car, as he had still not received clearance. Nine minutes later, Israel struck the journalists' car, wounding both women. They crawled into a nearby building for shelter. Faraj later recalled that Israeli quadcopter drones had hovered less than a metre from their faces while they waited.
At 4.25pm, Israel bombed the building they were hiding in, burying both women under the rubble.
Amal Khalil: Rescue delayed for hours
Permission for the Lebanese Red Cross to enter al-Tiri was only granted at 5pm. Rescuers managed to pull out Faraj, who had a fractured skull, a crushed hand, severe eye injuries and damage to her right leg. Khalil remained trapped under the debris.
According to Guardian UK, during the evacuation, an Israeli quadcopter dropped a stun grenade near the rescue workers. Witnesses reported hearing gunfire, and HRW reviewed photographs of ambulances showing bullet holes consistent with small arms fire. The rescuers were forced to retreat without Khalil.
Israeli forces finally gave clearance for rescue crews to return at 8.15pm. Khalil's body was recovered at 11pm. An examination at Tebnine hospital found she most likely died at approximately 7pm, meaning she was alive for roughly two and a half hours after the final strike, trapped under rubble while rescuers were prevented from reaching her.
Israel said it "regrets any harm caused to journalists" and described the incident as part of a series of events during which two Hezbollah operatives were also killed. The Israeli military noted there was roughly two hours between the initial strike on those men and the second strike targeting the building where the journalists sheltered.
HRW Lebanon researcher Ramzi Kaiss said the evidence showed the military "knew, or should have, that Faraj and Khalil were civilians, but attacked them anyway, and then prevented paramedics from rescuing them for hours."
Heba Morayef, Amnesty International's director for the Middle East and North Africa, said the impunity Israel has enjoyed for killing journalists and civilians in Lebanon over three years has allowed its unlawful strikes to continue unchecked, and repeated the call for a comprehensive arms embargo. According to the UN human rights office, Israel has killed at least 15 journalists in Lebanon and 210 in Gaza since 2023.
Source: Getty Images
Journalist killed in Israeli drone strike in Gaza
Legit.ng earlier reported that Qatar-based broadcaster Al Jazeera announced on Saturday, June 20, 2026, that its journalist Ahmed Wishah was killed in an Israeli drone strike targeting a house in the Bureij refugee camp in central Gaza.
Al Jazeera described Wishah as a cameraman who had been reporting from Gaza. His death marks the latest loss for the network, which has seen several of its journalists killed in the territory since the war began on October 7, 2023.
Proofreading by James Ojo, copy editor at Legit.ng.
Source: Legit.ng
