Three journalists killed in Israeli strike in southern Lebanon: Media report

An Israeli strike early this morning (25 October) killed at least three journalists as they slept in a guesthouse in Hasbaya in southern Lebanon, Lebanese media reported.

Those killed included cameraman Ghassan Najjar and engineer Mohamed Reda who worked for pro-Iranian news outlet Al-Mayadeen and one cameraman who worked for Hezbollah's Al-Manar, Al-Mayadeen reported.

Reporters at the scene said the bungalow where the men were sleeping was directly targeted.

"The occupation's targeting of the journalists' residence was deliberate, and there are injured journalists from other Arab channels," Ghassan bin Jiddo, the director of Al-Mayadeen, said on the channel's X account.

"We hold the occupation fully responsible for this war crime, in which journalist crews, including the Al-Mayadeen team, were targeted."

There was no immediate comment from Israel.

The killings come 24 hours after an Israeli strike hit an office used by Al-Mayadeen in Beirut's southern suburbs.

Lebanon's health ministry said one person was killed and five others, including a child, were wounded in that strike.

Lebanese authorities say the Israeli military campaign has killed more than 2,500 people and displaced more than 1 million people, spawning a humanitarian crisis.

On Thursday, an Israeli strike killed three Lebanese soldiers as they tried to evacuate wounded people from the border village of Yater, the Lebanese army said. There was no comment from the Israeli military.

The US has said Israel should take steps to avoid civilian casualties and not endanger UN peacekeepers or Lebanese army troops in its attacks in Gaza and Lebanon.

Israel, which has been criticised for shelling hospitals and schools, has said it precisely targets Hamas and Hezbollah militants, accusing them of using civilians as shields.

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) said that as of 24 October, its preliminary investigations showed at least 128 journalists and media workers had been killed since the start of the Gaza war, making it the deadliest period for journalists since CPJ began gathering data in 1992.

It said the overwhelming majority were Palestinian media workers, 123 Palestinian, two Israeli, and three Lebanese.

At least five journalists have been killed over the past year of conflict in Lebanon, including a Reuters visuals journalist.

CEASEFIRE TALKS

A month into Israel's military operation against the Iran-backed Lebanese group Hezbollah, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken warned against a protracted Israeli campaign in Lebanon.

"As Israel conducts operations to remove the threat to Israel and its people along the border with Lebanon, we have been very clear that this cannot lead, should not lead, to a protracted campaign," Blinken said in Doha.

Blinken also said he hoped Iran was getting a clear message that further attacks on Israel risked its own interests. Israel has vowed retaliation for an Iranian missile barrage on 1 October.

US and Israeli negotiators will gather in Doha to prepare for renewed talks on a Gaza ceasefire deal which would also entail release of hostages in the Palestinian enclave, Qatar and Washington said.

Israel said its Mossad intelligence agency head David Barnea will travel to Doha on Sunday to try to restart talks, and meet with CIA director William Burns and Qatar's prime minister.

An Egyptian security delegation met with a delegation of Hamas leaders in Cairo, part of efforts to resume the Gaza ceasefire talks, Egypt's state-affiliated Al Qahera News TV said.

Hamas senior official Osama Hamdan told Al-Mayadeen there was no change in the group's position. "The hostages held by the resistance will only return by stopping the aggression and completely withdrawing," Hamdan said.

Previous attempts to reach a Gaza ceasefire and hostage release deal have failed.

Blinken is on his first trip to the region since Israel killed Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, a mastermind of the group's 7 October 2023 attack on Israel that triggered conflict across the Middle East. Washington, Israel's close ally, has expressed hope his death can provide an impetus for an end to the fighting.

The head of Israel's military has said an end to the conflict with Hezbollah now looked possible.

"In the north (of Israel), there's a possibility of reaching a sharp conclusion. We thoroughly dismantled Hezbollah's senior chain of command," Lieutenant General Herzi Halevi said in a video statement.

Lebanon's caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati said a ceasefire was in Israel's hands.

"The storm we are currently witnessing...carries the seeds of total destruction, not only for our country, but for all human values," he said.

Hezbollah launched attacks against Israel a day after the Palestinian militant group Hamas' 7 October 2023 assault on southern Israel, which killed 1,200 people and resulted in another 250 being abducted, according to Israeli tallies.

Israel's Gaza offensive has killed nearly 43,000 people, according to Gaza authorities, and laid waste to the territory.