Lebanese, Palestinian, Intel wave of condemnation over Israeli enemy’s targeting of journalist Amal Khalil
The Israeli warplanes targeted a house where Amal and her colleague, Zainab Faraj, had taken refuge, then re-targeted the neighboring house they had fled to, in order to tighten the noose on Amal, who remained trapped.
Furthermore, the enemy forces obstructed the arrival of the Civil Defense teams and the Lebanese Army for hours, which reduced the chances of her being rescued.
The Lebanese Red Cross was also targeted, as one of its vehicles was subjected to targeting while transporting Zainab Faraj, while the rescue teams did not arrive until after Amal had passed away. Her martyrdom constitutes a new chapter in the chapters of Lebanese and Palestinian pain resulting from the Israeli aggression, and the Lebanese press records another martyr in the convoy of martyrs who have perished in the Israeli enemy’s bombardment.
In condemnation of this heinous crime, a wave of Lebanese, Palestinian, and international condemnation followed today, Thursday, regarding this heinous crime which comes in the context of a series of similar crimes committed by the Israeli enemy in Palestine and Lebanon, in which it has claimed the lives of hundreds of male and female journalists, targeting the voices of truth.
The martyred journalist was laid to rest in the town of Bissariyeh in the Sidon district of southern Lebanon this afternoon. The Lebanese National News Agency reported that the funeral ceremonies took place in a solemn procession attended by political and media figures and a crowd of the town’s people. The coffin was carried on shoulders through the town amidst the scattering of rice and roses, before being moved to her home for a final farewell prior to burial. Journalists and media colleagues of the martyr accompanied her procession to her final resting place, recalling her qualities and virtues.
Protest of Denunciation
Expressing the ugliness of the crime and their rejection of it, Lebanese and Arab journalists, media professionals, and correspondents organized a protest of denunciation in Martyrs’ Square in the center of the Lebanese capital, Beirut, today, Thursday, to denounce the Israeli entity’s targeting of journalists and the media in Lebanon—the latest being the crime of assassinating the writer and journalist for *Al-Akhbar* newspaper, the martyr Amal Khalil, and the wounding of press photographer Zainab Faraj.
Participants in the protest, which was held at the invitation of the Union of Journalists in Lebanon, raised photos of the martyred journalists assassinated by the Israeli entity since the 2023 war, including the martyr Khalil, according to the National News Agency in Lebanon. They also raised slogans demanding recourse to international law to hold the Israeli entity accountable for its crimes. The speeches noted the virtues and professionalism of the martyr Khalil, condemning the crimes of the Israeli entity against journalists and media professionals, especially after it prevented Civil Defense teams from reaching the place where Khalil was trapped to save her in time.
A Full-Fledged, Premeditated Crime
Regarding statements of condemnation and denunciation, the Media Relations of Hezbollah in Lebanon condemned in the strongest terms the brutal and treacherous crime committed by the Zionist enemy again against the free national media, targeting the media colleague at the Lebanese *Al-Akhbar* newspaper.
It stated in a statement that Khalil was “the daring field correspondent whose steadfastness and solidity were witnessed by the soil of the South, which is kneaded with the sacrifices and offerings of its sons, and who joined the convoy of heroic media martyrs while performing her national media mission in conveying the truth and exposing the criminality of the Zionist enemy.”
It emphasized that “this deliberate targeting of the martyred journalist Amal Khalil, the daughter of the steadfast South and its pulsating voice, and the injury of her colleague, journalist Zainab Faraj, and the prevention of rescuers from reaching them after they took refuge inside a house—before the enemy proceeded to target it directly—constitutes a full-fledged, premeditated crime, and confirms the extent of the deep-seated hatred that this Zionist entity holds toward every authentic national Lebanese, regardless of their position or role.”
Meanwhile, a member of the Loyalty to the Resistance Block, MP Hassan Fadlallah, said that “Israel” promoted a “false narrative,” stressing that what happened was a “premeditated war crime targeting unarmed civilians,” including the journalist Amal Khalil. He explained that the victims “were on their way from Sidon toward Tibnine and then the town of Al-Tiri on a tour near their towns, and that one of them was accompanied by his children before continuing the road.” Fadlallah emphasized that journalist Amal Khalil “was martyred while performing her professional duty and was a voice alongside the people and the resistance,” stressing that “Lebanon will remain the homeland of resistance, freedom, the responsible word, and true sovereignty.”
The Sinful Assassination
On the Palestinian level, the Palestinian Resistance Factions condemned this crime, considering it additional evidence of the ugliness and brutality of the Israeli enemy and its keenness to target the voices of the press and the free word.
In this regard, the Islamic Jihad Movement in Palestine condemned in the strongest terms the Zionist entity’s army’s assassination of the *Al-Akhbar* newspaper correspondent, the martyr Khalil, after chasing her in the town of Al-Tiri, southern Lebanon. It considered in a statement that this sinful assassination constitutes a premeditated war crime, added to the series of crimes against humanity committed by the enemy forces through their systematic targeting of journalists as a clear and documented policy, whether in Gaza, the occupied West Bank, or Lebanon. It stressed that “the silence of international institutions concerned with prosecuting these crimes contributes to the entity’s impunity and grants it political cover to continue its crimes.”
The Media Office of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP) in Lebanon also mourned her. It noted in a statement that the martyr dedicated her professional career to conveying the image of the South and the steadfastness of its people, embodying a model of national journalism committed to the causes of the people and the homeland. It pointed out that she “was not just a conveyer of news, but a witness through her lens and pen to the struggles of the Southerners, as she documented their suffering, sacrifices, steadfastness, and aspirations, and conveyed their voice to various media platforms.”
The Cowardly Zionist Crime
Similarly, the Palestinian Mujahideen Movement strongly condemned the cowardly Zionist crime of assassinating the Lebanese *Al-Akhbar* newspaper correspondent, the martyr Khalil. The movement expressed, in a statement, its denunciation of the silence of the international community and relevant institutions regarding these heinous crimes against journalists protected by all international norms and laws.
It said that “this new barbaric crime targeting another female journalist is an extension of the systematic Zionist campaign which has targeted the honorable resistance media and aims to silence the voice of resistance and truth, which strips and exposes the Zionist narrative and reveals the enemy’sheinous crimes.”
The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) also mourned her with feelings of anger and pride. It considered in a statement that the assassination of colleague Amal Khalil constitutes a new crime added to the black record of the Zionist entity, which has never hesitated to target journalists and media professionals in a desperate attempt to silence the free voice and hide the truth from the world.
The Resistance Committees in Palestine also mourned her. The committees said in a statement that “the sun of truth which the martyred journalist Amal Khalil nourished with her pure, innocent blood will not dry up, and the truth she defended will not be buried and will remain a witness to the truth and a witness for the truth; the camera did not fall from her hand except for her soul to ascend to the sky of the resisting South.” It emphasized that “the blood of the martyred journalist Amal Khalil will remain a stain of shame haunting the Zionist criminals and will haunt the Zionist entity led by a group of thugs and butchers thirsty for the blood of innocents.”
A Voice for the Voiceless
In Iran; the spokesman for the Iranian Foreign Ministry, Esmaeil Baghaei, said that the Lebanese journalist Amal Khalil was not just a name, but a voice for the voiceless among those subjected to brutal killing at the hands of the Israeli enemy. Baghaei added, in a post on the X platform, that her assassination came because of her exposing the reality of the Israeli enemy’s atrocities. He considered that the targeting of journalists is not only a heinous war crime but part of a policy aimed at erasing the population and annexing lands in service of greedy colonial ambitions.
The Voice of Afghans (AVA) News Agency also issued a statement in which it strongly condemned the recent crime committed by the Zionist entity through the martyrdom of Amal Khalil. It considered the targeting of journalists and media activists an organized act to silence the truth and cover up the crimes of this entity, and emphasized the solidarity of the justice-seeking media community with the peoples of the region.
It stated: “The martyrdom of this journalist during the airstrikes last night in southern Lebanon has once again revealed the anti-human essence of this regime, which fears the revelation of truth more than any other weapon. For long years, Amal Khalil was the daring voice of the oppressed in southern Lebanon and an exposer of the occupiers’ crimes, and she ultimately joined the convoy of the martyrs of the path of awareness and the media mission.”