Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam accused Israel of war crimes in an X/Twitter post early Thursday morning, claiming that the IDF had targeted journalists in southern Lebanon.
“Targeting journalists, obstructing access to them by relief teams, and even targeting their locations again after these teams arrive constitutes described war crimes,” said Salam.
“Israel’s targeting of media workers in the south while they carry out their professional duties is no longer isolated incidents, but has become an established approach that we condemn and reject, as do all international laws and conventions,” Salam continued.
The prime minister added that Lebanon will “spare no effort in pursuing these crimes before the competent international forums.”
Salam’s comments come after a senior Lebanese military official told Reuters on Wednesday that rescuers in the southern Lebanese town of Tayri were injured after an Israeli drone dropped a grenade on them as they tried to lift a wounded journalist from rubble.
The official said the Lebanese army asked the Israeli military through a US-led mechanism to allow rescuers to retrieve the wounded journalist.
The IDF said in a statement on Wednesday that reports of injured journalists were under review, emphasizing that the military was “not preventing rescue teams from reaching the area.”
The statement noted that the IDF “does not target journalists” and “acts to mitigate harm to them,” adding that the map of the Forward Defense Line has been published and that the area has been “evacuated.”
In the same statement, the military said that it had struck one of two vehicles that had crossed the Forward Defense Line on Wednesday after it had approached IDF soldiers, killing the terrorist occupants.
The building from which the vehicles had originated was also targeted, the military added, noting that the structure had been used by Hezbollah.
On March 28, the IDF killed a Hezbollah terrorist who was also a journalist for Lebanese outlet Al Manar, with the military confirming that it was aware of reports that an additional journalist was killed in the strike.
“The IDF directs its strikes to target terrorists, and not journalists, and is operating to mitigate harm to civilians as much as possible,” the military said.
Source:
www.jpost.com
