UN experts call for investigation into killing of 3 Lebanese journalists in Israeli strike

UN experts have called for an international investigation into the killing of three Lebanese journalists in an Israeli strike, saying Israel had not provided “credible evidence” of their supposed links to armed groups.

The three journalists, including Al Manar correspondent Ali Shoeib, were killed on March 28 in an Israeli strike in southern Lebanon.

“We denounce strongly what has now become a standard, dangerous practice of Israel to target and kill journalists and then claim, without providing any credible evidence, that they were involved with armed groups,” the experts said in a statement.

The Israeli army claimed that Shoeib was a member of the Radwan force, an elite unit of Hezbollah, operating “under the guise of a journalist”.

According to the experts, Israel’s only “evidence” for its claims was a photoshopped image of the journalist.

Israel also confirmed it killed journalist Fatima Ftouni of Al Mayadeen and her brother, cameraman Mohammed Ftouni, alleging he was “an additional terrorist in Hezbollah’s military wing”.

The experts argued that working as a journalist for a media outlet linked to an armed group does not constitute direct participation in hostilities under international humanitarian law.

“Israeli officials know this, yet they choose to ignore it — emboldened by impunity for their previous killings of journalists in Lebanon, Gaza and the West Bank.”

At least 231 journalists and media workers have been killed by Israel since 2023, including 210 in Gaza and 11 in Lebanon, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ).

Although appointed by the United Nations Human Rights Council, special rapporteurs are independent experts and do not speak on behalf of the UN.