Click to expand Image Amal Khalil, a veteran correspondent for the daily newspaper Al-Akhbar, in the southern Lebanese border village of Jebbayn in 2024 © The Israeli military’s April 22, 2026 attacks in Lebanon that killed one journalist and severely injured another included apparently deliberate attacks on civilians which would make them war crimes.Israeli forces’ continued killing of journalists shows a brazen willingness to commit atrocities without any fear of consequences.The Lebanese government should accede to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court and submit a declaration accepting the court’s jurisdiction including since at least October 7, 2023. Other countries should press for accountability and use their leverage over Israeli authorities to prevent more crimes.(Beirut) – The Israeli military’s April 22, 2026 attacks in Lebanon that killed one journalist and severely injured another included apparently deliberate attacks on civilians and civilian objects, which would make them war crimes, Human Rights Watch said today.The attacks on the southern town of al-Tiri killed Amal Khalil, who was reporting on hostilities in southern Lebanon for the Lebanese daily news outlet al-Akhbar, and severely wounded Zainab Faraj, a Lebanese freelance journalist, working as her camera operator. “The Israeli military says it does not target journalists, but the facts and evidence show that it has repeatedly done so. Amal Khalil and Zainab Faraj are the latest victims in a long series of such attacks,” said Ramzi Kaiss, Lebanon researcher at Human Rights Watch. “Israeli forces’ continued killing of journalists shows a brazen willingness to commit atrocities without any fear of consequences.”Photo and video evidence reviewed by Human Rights Watch, witness statements, and a deconfliction request to access the site by the Lebanese Red Cross to the Israeli military, after the first of three strikes on the site that day indicate that the Israeli military knew or should have known that Khalil and Faraj were civilians. The first strike, at about 2:30 p.m. on a car in front of Khalil and Faraj’s car, killed two people they knew who were driving ahead of them, Ali Bazzi and Mohammed al-Hourani. The strike forced Faraj and Khalil to abandon their car and seek refuge near a neighboring building. At 3:00 p.m., the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) sent the Israeli military the request from the Red Cross, to access the site and rescue trapped journalists.The second attack, between 3:21 p.m. and 3:42 p.m., hit Khalil and Faraj’s car, a few meters from their hiding spot, injuring Khalil, and forcing her and Faraj to move inside the building. The third attack at about 4:25 p.m. bombed that building, destroying it. Israeli quadcopter drones appeared to be monitoring Faraj and Khalil while they were hiding and subsequently attacked. The Israeli military also appeared to have further obstructed rescue efforts, including by deploying a drone-delivered stun grenade, forcing Lebanese Red Cross paramedics who were conducting rescue efforts to initially retreat without rescuing Khalil or potentially providing her with lifesaving care, witnesses said. The ambulance was also apparently struck with small arms fire, based on witness statements and images Human Rights Watch reviewed of the damage caused to the ambulance. A report that Human Rights Watch reviewed from Tebnin Governmental Hospital, where Amal’s body was taken after it was recovered that evening, stated that Khalil died around 7:00 p.m. as a result of cardiac arrest. The report also said that Khalil had a head injury that caused severe bleeding. The hospital report alongside the timeline established by Human Rights Watch analysis indicate that Khalil was most likely alive when Israeli forces forced the Red Cross team to retreat from the site.In statements published after a ceasefire agreement went into effect on April 17, including one on April 21, the Israeli military ordered residents not to return to dozens of towns and villages south of a demarcated yellow line near the border, including al-Tiri. But civilians in areas subject to a displacement order do not lose their civilian status or the protection of international humanitarian law and may not be targeted simply for being in those areas. Human Rights Watch sent a letter to the UNIFIL, UN peacekeeping forces in Lebanon, on May 7, but did not receive a response. Human Rights Watch also sent a letter to the Israeli military on June 17 requesting information about the attacks. The Israeli military provided a brief response on June 24 but did not respond to follow-up questions. In response to Israel’s violations of the laws of war in Lebanon and across the region, Israel’s allies, including the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, and other European Union states should immediately suspend all arms transfers and military assistance to Israel, and impose targeted sanctions on Israeli officials responsible for ongoing abuses. The EU should immediately suspend the trade pillar of its Association Agreement with Israel as long as Israel’s atrocity crimes persist, Human Rights Watch said. The text of a recently concluded framework agreement between Lebanon and Israel raises concerns that Lebanon’s authorities could act to curtail victims’ access to justice for serious international crimes, Human Rights Watch said. To signal their commitment to accountability, Lebanon’s judicial authorities should initiate domestic investigations, while parliament should act to strengthen the legal framework by putting in place a law criminalizing war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide, in line with international standards. The Lebanese government should also accede to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court and submit a declaration accepting the court’s jurisdiction, including since at least October 7, 2023. “The evidence is clear that the Israeli military knew or should have known that Faraj and Khalil were civilians, but attacked them anyway, and then prevented paramedics from rescuing them for hours,” Kaiss said. “Lebanon should put an end to impunity for Israel’s abuses, and other countries should press for accountability and use their leverage over Israeli authorities to prevent more crimes.”MethodologyHuman Rights Watch interviewed eight people, including Faraj, who survived the attack; one of Khalil’s colleagues at al-Akhbar; two first responders; a journalist who was in communication with Khalil while she was trapped in al-Tiri; and three people involved in the request by paramedics to access the site. Human Rights Watch reviewed the phone call log of a first responder who was in direct contact with Khalil between 2:36 p.m. and 3:48 p.m. the day of the attack, in addition to the phone call log of Khalil’s sister, who last spoke with Khalil at 4:22 p.m., nearly three minutes before the final fatal strike. Human Rights Watch verified at least 35 photographs and videos shared by first responders and Faraj, including from the attack site that day and at a temporary Lebanese army checkpoint, geolocated by Human Rights Watch to just over 2.5 kilometers northwest of the strike site, where some first responders waited for clearance to reach the trapped journalists. Human Rights Watch also reviewed eight photographs of the damaged ambulance. Human Rights Watch reviewed social media profiles of Bazzi and al-Hourani, who were traveling with Khalil and Faraj, and social media posts about their deaths; as well as photographs and videos showing the burial of the men whose bodies were wrapped in Hezbollah flags. Researchers did not find Hezbollah “martyr” posters for either man or other evidence indicating that they were fighters. Guidance by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) sets out that people who have exclusively noncombat functions in armed groups, including political or administrative roles, or are merely members of or affiliated with political entities that have an armed component, such as Hezbollah, may not be targeted at any time unless and only for such time as they, like any other civilian, directly participate in the hostilities.Chronology and Details of the April 22 AttacksOn April 22, Khalil and Faraj were travelling in a car across southern Lebanon to report on the hostilities and situation there. Prior to entering al-Tiri, they met with a relative of Faraj, Ali Nabil Bazzi, a local official, in Bint Jbeil, which borders al-Tiri, and another acquaintance, Mohammed al-Hourani, a personal trainer. The two were travelling in the car in front of Khalil and Faraj’s vehicle. At around 2:30 p.m., the Israeli military struck the men’s car, killing the two immediately, Faraj said. Khalil and Faraj were not injured.“It was calm,” Faraj said. “I was taking a video and suddenly I heard Amal shout ‘They hit them!’ I looked in front of me, and I saw the explosion happen. […] Amal quickly pulled over the car to the side. We got out of the car and hid under a tiled roof near us.” Faraj and Khalil had press vests in the car but ran before they could retrieve them. Click to expand Image Screenshots of a video call between Faraj and her sister taken at 2:35 p.m and 2:49 p.m., showing the car traveling in front of Khalil and Faraj burning after it was struck by the Israeli military. Amal Khalil’s car, in the forefront, which was also subsequently struck, is parked near a building, where Khalil and Zainab sought refuge. April 22, 2026. © Private Human Rights Watch reviewed two screenshots of a video call between Faraj and her sister, at 2:35 p.m. and 2:49 p.m., showing the car burning in front of Khalil’s parked car. Human Rights Watch geolocated the journalists’ hiding place and confirmed the presence of a tiled overhang in front of a food storage.Moussa Shaalan, a first responder with the Lebanese Civil Defense, showed Human Rights Watch his April 22 phone log, including a 20 second call with Khalil at 2:36 p.m., during which he said Khalil told him that the car in front of theirs had been struck. Shaalan’s call log showed multiple calls he made between 2:37 p.m. and 2:50 p.m., including to Lebanese Civil Defense, the Lebanese Red Cross, and Khalil’s brother. The Lebanese Red Cross then sent a request to access the area via UNIFIL, three informed sources said. UNIFIL forwarded the request to the Israeli military at 3:00 p.m., indicating that journalists were at the site of the strike in al-Tiri and included a detailed route to the site for rescue workers, the sources said. Between 2:30 p.m. and 4:22 p.m., Khalil and Faraj communicated with members of the Lebanese Red Cross, Lebanese Armed Forces, first responders from the Lebanese Civil Defense, the Islamic Risala Scout Association, and UNIFIL, in addition to family members and journalist colleagues, asking for help to be evacuated, Faraj, Shaalan, and two informed sources said. Two first responders interviewed said that Khalil told them as early as 3:00 p.m. that she saw Israeli quadcopter drones hovering over her and Faraj for long periods.“There was a crack in the roof, and we could see the quadcopter right above peering in,” Faraj said. “For one hour, we waited under the tiled roof and the entire time, there were two quadcopters above us. The quadcopter would go up and come down. It kept doing this.” Click to expand Image Paramedics from the Islamic Risala Scout Association, who had been in touch with Khalil and Faraj while they were trapped, waiting for approval to access al-Tiri at a Lebanese Army Checkpoint in Haddatha, 2.6 kilometers north of the strike site, April 22, 2026. © Private Shaalan’s phone call log showed a 30 second call with Khalil at 3:08 p.m., during which he said that he told Khalil that first responders had requested clearance to access al-Tiri, but the Israeli authorities had not yet approved the request.At 3:21 p.m., Khalil called Shaalan, he said: “She said, ‘Moussa, our situation is bad. The drone is above us.’ I told her we still haven’t gotten the clearance to come to you. I told her I would send her my location, and she should just come to me.” Shaalan’s phone call log showed an incoming phone call from Khalil at 3:21 p.m. that lasted 1 minute and 29 seconds.Faraj said that their car was struck shortly after the 3:21 p.m. phone call. “We stood up and we were going to leave but decided against it. Then suddenly the sound of a drone got louder, and they struck the car. Amal hugged me and covered me. She said, “I’m ok, are you?” I said yes, but then the car started burning.” Khalil was injured from the strike on the car, Faraj said. The car, according to Faraj and photographs geolocated by Human Rights Watch, was parked only a few meters from their hiding place. After the second strike, they went inside the building. “I grabbed the car’s bumper and used it to cover us from the fire, but it was too hot,” she said. “So, I broke the garage door behind us and we went [into the building].” A video taken by Islamic Risala Scout Association members, verified and geolocated by Human Rights Watch, shows two civil defense vehicles arriving at a Lebanese army checkpoint 2.6 kilometers north of the attack site at 3:27 p.m.From 3:29 p.m. to 3:46 p.m., Shaalan called Khalil four times, but she did not answer.At 3:42 p.m. Khalil called the Lebanese Red Cross and told them that there was a strike on her car and that she and Faraj had taken refuge in a nearby building, said an informed source involved in the request to access the site.At 3:48 p.m. Shaalan called Khalil and spoke with her for 38 seconds, based on his phone’s call log. “She told me, ‘Moussa, they dropped a bomb next to me … I’m injured, I can’t come to you,’” Shaalan said. Between 4:10 p.m. and 4:49 p.m., Shaalan called Khalil six times, but she did not answer, based on his phone’s call log. At 4:22 p.m. Khalil’s sister, Zainab, called Khalil and spoke with her for 21 seconds, according to her phone’s call log from that day, which Human Rights Watch reviewed.A video taken by a member of the Islamic Risala Scout Association at the site of the checkpoint set up by the Lebanese army, north of al-Tiri, indicates that the Israeli military apparently struck the building in which Khalil and Faraj sought refuge at around 4:25 p.m. Based on the video’s timestamp, at exactly that time the sound of a loud detonation can be heard from the direction of the town. Between 3:00 p.m. and 5:00 p.m. the Lebanese Red Cross was also in contact with the Lebanese Armed Forces’ Operations Division in order to secure access to the site via the ceasefire monitoring mechanism, which includes Lebanese, Israeli, French, US, and UNIFIL officials. Lebanon’s National Committee for International Humanitarian Law, a government body headed by Lebanon’s deputy prime minister, Tarek Mitri, reported that “[b]etween 15:00 and 16:00, rescue teams waited for authorization from the committee known as the ‘mechanism’ (the ceasefire monitoring mechanism), after it had been contacted at 15:41.” Click to expand Image Paramedics from the Lebanese Red Cross arrive at the checkpoint in Haddatha, in southern Lebanon, before accessing the strike site in al-Tiri. Human Rights Watch’s review of the photo’s metadata indicates it was taken at 5:03 P.M. © Private Despite its earlier request for access, the Lebanese Red Cross was only able to enter the town at about 5:00 p.m., roughly 30 minutes after the Israeli military apparently attacked the building in which Khalil and Faraj took refuge. Human Rights Watch geolocated a photograph taken by first responders showing the Lebanese Red Cross team arriving in two vehicles at the Lebanese army checkpoint at 5:03 p.m.Human Rights Watch verified photographs and videos showing first responders at the site as early as 5:08 p.m. One pulls a shovel from the car as he approaches the site. In that video, the building in which Faraj and Khalil had sought refuge appears to have been destroyed, and the road in front is covered in debris. Another video, with a timestamp of 5:21 p.m., shows the collapsed building and one of the two cars earlier struck by the Israeli military. Human Rights Watch verified three other videos and a photograph showing two Lebanese Red Cross workers digging through the rubble, uncovering Faraj with their hands. Faraj can be heard speaking with the paramedics as they attempt to remove her. Metadata reviewed by Human Rights Watch shows a 5:40 p.m. timestamp. Another photograph taken at the site after Faraj was pulled from the rubble shows a paramedic holding Faraj, who is bloodied with significant injuries on her legs, hand, head, and eye. Shortly after the Lebanese Red Cross team pulled Faraj from the rubble, they were also attacked, according to Lebanon’s Health Ministry, Faraj, and two informed sources, by what they said was a stun grenade delivered by a quadcopter drone. As a result, the first responders were forced to retreat at around 5:53 p.m. without rescuing Khalil.The Israeli military has repeatedly used drones in Lebanon’s border villages to deploy stun grenades, typically to disperse individuals or force them to leave certain areas, according to Israeli and Lebanese media reports, UNIFIL, and statements collected by Human Rights Watch from nine people and local officials from three border villages. Witnesses also said that they heard bursts of gunfire while at the strike site, including while evacuating the site. Click to expand Image Damage to one of the Lebanese Red Cross vehicles dispatched to the strike site in al-Tiri. The shape and size of the holes are consistent with cylindrical projectiles fired with enough force to penetrate the steel outer body of an automobile and were thus most likely caused by small arms fire. © Private Human Rights Watch reviewed eight photographs showing two holes on the driver’s side of one of the ambulances taken after the ambulances left the site, and witnesses had heard gunfire. Paramedics discovered the holes after they arrived at the hospital in Tebnine, but witnesses could not identify when exactly the ambulance was struck. The shape and size of the holes are consistent with cylindrical projectiles fired with enough force to penetrate the steel outer body of an automobile and were thus most likely caused by small arms fire. Human Rights Watch could not determine the size of the projectiles because of the deformity to the steel and angle of entry.At the time the witnesses heard the gunfire, the ambulance was facing north on the main road next to the building where Khalil and Faraj had been hiding, and the damaged panel of the ambulance was facing west said an informed source, suggesting that the ambulance was most likely struck by armed forces west of the site. Human Rights Watch analysis of satellite imagery at 11:43 a.m. local time shows Israeli military vehicles 1-1.2 kilometers west of the site. The terrain profile of the area indicates that troops positioned at that location would not have a direct line of sight to the ambulance, but those forces could have moved. Human Rights Watch could not determine the exact location of Israeli troops in relation to the ambulance at the time the gunfire was heard, but the Israeli military was present in and had control of al-Tiri, in addition to all other towns west, east, and south, based on an Israeli military statement made on April 21, one day before the attack. The military said in the statement that it “continues to maintain its positions in southern Lebanon,” showing a map of the “forward defense zone” where the Israeli military is located, which includes al-Tiri, and surrounding villages.Although Human Rights Watch could not determine at which exact time and from which exact position the projectiles struck the ambulance, the Israeli military’s control of al-Tiri, and presence west of the strike site hours before the attack, suggest that the Israeli military was responsible.Human Rights Watch also analyzed a photograph taken at this time showing Faraj lying on a stretcher inside the Red Cross ambulance. “When they put me in the car, I heard a loud strike,” she said. “I got a panic attack from the strike. And the guys started saying ‘they hit us.’” The Lebanese Red Cross team then headed to the hospital, 6.5 kilometers away. They arrived at the hospital at 6:06 p.m. and initiated a second request to enter al-Tiri, said two informed sources. UNIFIL sent the request just before 7:00 p.m., but the Israeli military only granted the request at 8:15 p.m., two sources said. By that point, Khalil had died. A doctor’s examination of her body that day stated that she died at around 7:00 p.m. as a result of cardiac arrest. The report also noted that Khalil had a head injury that caused severe bleeding. Rescue workers recovered her body at around 11:00 p.m. At 8:27 p.m., an Israeli military Arabic spokesperson published a statement referring to Khalil, Faraj, and the two men traveling in front of them as “saboteurs.” The military said that Israeli “troops spotted two vehicles in the southern Lebanon region that had emerged from a military structure used by the Hezbollah terrorist organization,” adding that the “saboteurs crossed the front line and approached [Israeli military forces] in a manner that posed an immediate threat.” The statement continued, “after it was determined that they were violating the ceasefire agreement, the Air Force attacked one of the vehicles and then targeted a building where the saboteurs had taken refuge.” The statement said that “two journalists were reported injured as a result of the attack,” and that the Israeli military was not preventing rescue teams from reaching the site of the strike “during this period,” and that the incident is under investigation. It is not clear what “military structure” the Israeli military’s statement refers to. Faraj denied that the two cars had emerged from a military structure used by Hezbollah. She said that she and Khalil met Hourani and Bazzi in front of Tebnin Governmental Hospital and from there had travelled to al-Tiri, passing through the town of Kounine. “We did not enter any building, at all,” she said. Human Rights Watch asked the Israeli military about the nature and location of the military structure but received no response.At 9:28 p.m., Hezbollah posted on Telegram saying: “In defense of Lebanon and its people, and in response to the Israeli enemy’s violation of the ceasefire and the targeting of a car in the town of al-Tiri by an enemy drone strike, the Islamic Resistance fighters targeted a command Hummer vehicle belonging to the Israeli enemy army in the town of al-Qantara at 18:00…” Al-Qantara is roughly 10 kilometers northwest of al-Tiri.The presence of drones that appeared to be monitoring Faraj and Khalil while they were trapped in al-Tiri and the submission of a deconfliction request to the Israeli military outlining the presence of journalists at the site around 1.5 hours before the fatal strike that killed Khalil, indicates that the Israeli military knew or should have known that Khalil and Faraj were civilians, but subsequently targeted them, committing an apparent war crime.Likewise, the Israeli military knew or should have known that the ambulance with Red Cross insignia present at the strike site after the attack on the building belonged to the Lebanese Red Cross. Videos and photographs taken by first responders show at least two cars marked with Red Cross insignia, an emblem of the Geneva convention, parked near the strike site, with their emergency lights flashing.Paramedics were wearing bright red overalls and white helmets marked with Red Cross insignia from all sides, and were present at the site for nearly 50 minutes before they were struck. Nevertheless, Israeli forces appear to have prevented them from completing their humanitarian mission by using a stun grenade. In addition, available evidence suggests the Israeli military may have been responsible for shooting the ambulance with small arms fire. The Israeli military’s response to Human Rights Watch did not provide detailed responses to questions. It stated that “a preliminary inquiry found that [Khalil] was killed during a sequence of events in which two military operatives in Hezbollah’s military wing Ali Nabil Bazi and Mohammad Al-Khourani [sic] were eliminated.” It added that the “incident has been referred to the General Staff Fact-Finding and Assessment Mechanism to conduct a comprehensive factual assessment.”The Israeli military did not respond to follow-up questions on the nature of the evidence used to establish that Hourani and Bazzi were legitimate military targets. In its response, the Israeli military said that it “does not target journalists and respects freedom of the press and the important role journalists play.” Human Rights Watch has previously documented repeated, apparently deliberate attacks by the Israeli military against journalists in Lebanon in 2023 and 2024. According to the Committee to Protect Journalists, “Israel was responsible for two-thirds of all press killings in both 2025 and 2024.”Under the laws of war, journalists benefit from the general protection enjoyed by civilians and may not be targets of an attack unless they are taking direct part in hostilities. A person who commits serious violations of the laws of war with criminal intent—that is, intentionally or recklessly—may be prosecuted for war crimes. Individuals may also be held criminally liable for assisting in, facilitating, aiding, or abetting a war crime. Under the laws of war, healthcare workers are also civilians and explicitly protected in conflict situations. Ambulances, and other medical transportation must be allowed to function and be protected in all circumstances. They could lose their protection only if they are being used to commit, outside of their humanitarian function, “acts harmful to the enemy,” such as transporting ammunition or healthy fighters in service. The attacking force must issue a warning to cease this misuse and can only attack after such a warning goes unheeded. Intentionally attacking medical workers and transport units displaying the emblems of the Geneva Conventions is prohibited and amount to war crimes. The freedom of movement of humanitarian relief personnel, which is essential for the exercise of their functions, must be ensured by all parties to the conflict. That movement may only be temporarily restricted in case of an imperative military necessity.