Beirut: On the afternoon of April 22, the messages from journalist Amal Khalil were brief. Writing to her anxious colleagues at the Lebanese daily Al Akhbar, she sent word on the group chat that she was fine and that her vehicle had not been the target of a deadly Israeli airstrike. For a moment, a collective sigh of relief swept through the newsroom.
According to Anadolu Agency, the horror was only beginning. As time passed, reports of secondary strikes by Israel in southern Lebanon in the town of al-Tayri began to surface. The newsroom realized with growing dread that the new targets were in the exact same location as Khalil and another colleague, photojournalist Zeinab Faraj. Khalil and Faraj fled and sought refuge under a nearby shelter, which Israel bombed shortly after.
In the aftermath of the strikes, witnesses and colleagues report a calculated effort by Israel to prevent a rescue. Faraj was eventually pulled wounded from the debris, but Israeli forces opened fire and blocked civil defense teams and ambulances from reaching Khalil. Khalil remained under the rubble for more than six hours, until Lebanese authorities and the Red Cross were given clearance to reach the scene. Her body was retrieved shortly before midnight.
The double-tap strike brought Khalil's two-decade career to a brutal end, with colleagues and press freedom advocates saying her killing reflects a broader pattern of Israeli attacks on journalists. Since March 2, at least nine journalists have been killed by Israeli forces in southern Lebanon, says the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ).
Khalil, 42, a journalist known for her fierce commitment to documenting Israeli atrocities in southern Lebanon, had been living under the shadow of death for months. The death threats began in 2024 with a message to her phone threatening to "separate her head from her shoulders." Despite the pleas of her family and friends to stop reporting from the border, Khalil refused.
Khalil's death is part of Israel's broader and systemic campaign to silence the media, press freedom activists and experts say. Since October 2023, when Israel's war on Gaza began, more than 260 journalists have been killed by Israel across the Middle East region, including in Gaza, Yemen, Lebanon, and Iran.
The CPJ official highlighted a recurring pattern in Israel's attacks on journalists, including the use of double-tap strikes. Israel also frequently uses drones to target journalists, knowing they are journalists due to their visible gear and cameras. The obstruction of rescuing civilians is another war crime, she added.
Colleagues said Khalil had become a constant presence in the newsroom during the war, sending updates daily from southern Lebanon as Israeli airstrikes intensified. Beyond reporting for the newspaper, Khalil also produced videos and field reports for social media platforms, documenting the devastation unfolding in villages along the border.
Khalil's final report sent to the newsroom was a haunting video from the village of Beit Lif, showing a man standing in tears as Israeli airstrikes destroyed his home and much of the surrounding area. She urged the Lebanese government to do more to protect journalists.