Rights groups say Israeli attack that killed Lebanese journalist an apparent war crime
Two human rights groups have said an Israeli attack in southern Lebanon that killed al-Akhbar newspaper reporter Amal Khalil and seriously wounded freelance camera operator Zeinab Faraj was an apparent war crime.
Separate reports by Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International concluded that the journalists were targeted while reporting in the town of al-Tiri on 22 April.
They called for an independent investigation and for Lebanon to accept the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court.
The Israeli military denied targeting the journalists, telling the BBC that the three strikes carried out by its forces were aimed at two operatives of the armed group Hezbollah.
"The Israeli military says it does not target journalists, but the facts and evidence show that it has repeatedly done so. Amal Khalil and Zeinab Faraj are the latest victims in a long series of such attacks," said Ramzi Kaiss, Lebanon researcher at Human Rights Watch (HRW).
The two rights groups said they had reviewed photo and video evidence of the events in al-Tiri, as well as witness testimony from Faraj and first responders, media reports, and a message from the Lebanese Red Cross to the Israeli military.
According to HRW's reconstruction of the events, the first Israeli strike hit a car driving in front of the two female journalists at about 14:30 local time, killing two men they knew, Ali Bazzi and Mohammed al-Hourani.
HRW said the strike forced Khalil and Faraj to abandon their vehicle and seek refuge near a neighbouring building. They called the Lebanese Red Cross for help, and at 15:00 the UN peacekeeping force in Lebanon (Unifil) sent the Israeli military a request from the Lebanese Red Cross to access the site and rescue them.
A second strike, between 15:21 and 15:42, hit the journalists' parked car, injuring Khalil, HRW added. She and Faraj then sheltered inside the building, which was destroyed by a third strike at about 16:25.
Israeli quadcopter drones appeared to monitor Faraj and Khalil throughout the attack.
"The drones got extremely close, coming through the broken roof. Less than a meter away. I was covering my face, thinking of a video I had seen where a drone killed someone like that. I thought it would explode in my face. The drones didn't carry visible explosives, but they were hovering and provoking fear constantly," Faraj told Amnesty.
Phone records showed Khalil remained in contact with first responders and family members as the attacks unfolded, according to the rights group.
A Lebanese Red Cross team was able to enter the town after 17:00.
But when the paramedics began rescue efforts, they came under fire from a drone-delivered stun grenade and were forced to retreat without recovering Khalil, witnesses told HRW.
Photographs reviewed by the group also showed damage to the Lebanese Red Cross ambulance that it said was consistent with small-arms fire.
HRW said a report from Tebnin Governmental Hospital indicated that Khalil was most likely still alive when the paramedics were forced to withdraw from the site at around 17:53.
The report stated that Khalil died around 19:00 as a result of cardiac arrest. It also said she had a head injury that caused severe bleeding. Her body was eventually recovered by rescue workers at around 23:00.
The Israeli military said the strikes that killed Khalil and wounded Faraj formed "part of a series of events" in which two Hezbollah operatives were killed, and that it "regrets any harm caused to journalists".
It said the incident was under internal review, but did not answer follow-up questions from the BBC about the purpose of the second and third strikes.
Both HRW and Amnesty said the evidence showed that Israeli forces "knew or should have known" that the women were civilians.
Deliberate attacks on civilians are prohibited under international humanitarian law.
"There can be no justification for targeting civilians who sought shelter in search of safety," said Heba Morayef, Amnesty's Middle East director.
Kaiss said: "Israeli forces' continued killing of journalists shows a brazen willingness to commit atrocities without any fear of consequences."
The Committee to Protect Journalists says 27 journalists and media workers have been killed this year, including nine in Lebanon and seven in Israel, the occupied West Bank and Gaza.
Reporting from BBC News contributed to this story.
